The Lost Staff
by WitchyWolf1
Summary: A modern Assassin tale. Madison was orphaned when she was only two years old. For the next 15 years she has bounced from group home to foster home and back. One day when she is arrested she meets a mysterious man name William who claims to have known her parents. He introduces her to the truth of not only her life but her parents life as well and a chance to change her life.
1. Petty Theft

Chapter 1: Petty Theft

What are you doing Madison, I thought to myself as I stood inside a crappy little tourist shop? What little of the walls that were visible were painted a sickeningly shade of green. T-shirts with stupid designs and beach towels hung from just about every single inch of the store. It was one of those shops that people visited for a souvenir of their "beach vacation." At the moment only a few people were picking through the crap that this place sold though. It was mostly old people that I could only assume were here, along the gulf coast, to gamble away what they had saved for retirement. Old people and parents with miserable looking kids were about all you expected to see passing through this tourist trap coastal Mississippi city.

I smoothed my red hair down in an attempt to cover my face as much as possible. It was probably not the smartest thing to do as things like that, if seen, tend to look suspicious to people. Especially grumpy old people who already tend to not like the younger generation. Add the fact that I was currently wearing a shirt with the logo of a metal band and jeans that I had purposely torn around the knees. I could feel the judgement radiating off of them.

"Assholes," I whispered to myself. I unzipped my messenger bag and looked around to make sure that no wandering eyes were on me and roughly shoved two sweatshirts inside before zipping it back up.

I don't know why I was stealing those things. I knew that I would never wear them. It wasn't the first time I had stolen either. I often stole and never really cared about the risk. It wasn't like I had anyone who truly gave a shit about me. My parents died in an accident when I was 2 years old and sense then I had bounced from group home to group home. I was 17 now, just a month away from being 18. Not that turning 18 would change anything in my life. As much as I wanted out of this place, I had nowhere else to go and very little money to get there. I'd probably find myself living on the streets after my birthday.

I tightened the strap on my bag and started to make my way towards the front doors of the shop when something caught my eye. It was a cheaply made necklace with a small shiny green stone hanging from it. Nothing more than costume jewelry and certainly nothing that I would ever wear, but the girl that I share a room with in my current group home was only 7 years old and green was her absolute favorite color. I knew it was stupid. The necklace was too close to the cash register and even closer to an old man and his even older wife who were standing mere feet away from the rack of necklaces and earrings. I shouldn't do it, I was already home free with the two sweatshirts that I was only taking for the adrenaline rush as it was. I was honestly probably just going to give them to the nice homeless woman who stayed near me so she could have something warm for the coming winter.

I smiled at the old judgmental couple that was eyeing me with suspicion and they turned away from me. Probably they thought I was some kind of criminal, and they would be right. I quickly spun the rack that contained the necklaces, pretending to examine them, before I quickly slipped one of the green stoned ones off of the peg and quickly pocketed it.

Quickly I glanced at the man working the cash register. He looked young, college age most likely, and was probably only working here to put himself through school. He looked bored as he scrolled through whatever he was looking at on his phone.

As I reached the door I glanced over and saw the old man that had been eyeing me whispering something to the cashier and knew exactly what he was saying. I had been careless with the necklace. I should have just left well enough alone and and taken the shirts I had put in my bag, but no, all because I liked that little orphan girl that I shared a room with, I had to take something for her as well.

"Ma'am," the worker said quickly walking over to me and my heart started to race harder. I turned to face him and almost felt bad for him. His face clearly said that he wasn't getting paid enough to deal with this. The old man had a phone out and was talking to someone while his wife stood next to him scowling in my direction. "I'm going to have to ask that you come with me." He gestured to a door on the far end of the shop, a door that I could only assume led to a room where security monitors were housed.

I glanced to my direct left and he must have known what I was thinking. "Look, don't do it," he said. "The police have already been called. Don't make this any harder or worse."

"Fuck me," I whispered, taking a single step towards the sliding doors that led outside and he grabbed me by the wrist hard. My vision went slightly red as I turned around screaming. "Get the hell off of me!" I shoved him with my free arm, not hard enough to knock him to the ground, but hard enough that he let go of me in shock and I took off sprinting through the doors.

He didn't chase after me as I started up the sidewalk, but I knew what was coming. Both he and the elderly couple had gotten a great look at me. They would be able to give the cops a picture perfect description of me. I had to find somewhere to hide quick. Unzipping my bag I pulled out a dark purple beanie and pulled it on my head, making sure to tuck all of my hair inside of it. Aside from being almost completely down my back, my red hair was too easily noticeable.

I glanced to my right across the busy highway as I continued walking. Autumn was slowly creeping into the air, but the beach was still full of people lounging out in the sand or splashing around in the shallows of the gulf. Wispy clouds dotted the bright blue sky on what would have been a beautiful day if I wasn't trying to avoid cops. Turning my attention back ahead of me, I kept walking, doing my best to keep a brisk pace without looking to suspicious to the other people out for a stroll. I knew there was a mall about a half of a mile away and couldn't help but think that if I could just make it there without any cops seeing me, I could probably get lost in the crowds.

The people on the street ignored me for the most part. Like always I drew a few glances because of how I dressed. The beanie probably didn't help with that as it was nowhere near cool enough for a hat like that. I stopped walking just long enough to put my earbuds in and start some music on my phone if for no other reason than to drown out the noise of the cars flying by me.

I made it three blocks down the road and the giant sign for the mall was in view. It would only take me another few minutes to get there at the brisk pace that I was walking. If I could just get there I could hide out in the numerous shops until closing time.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a white and blue car slow to a stop, much to the aggravation of the drivers behind the car. My heart skipped a beat as the red and blue lights flashed to life and a loud siren sound cut through the music playing in my ears. I stopped for a brief moment and looked to my right. A slightly overweight cop was stepping out of the car while his partner stayed in the passenger seat, looking like she was calling something in. I knew I should have just stayed where I was, that it would be pointless to run, but I didn't feel like making it easy on them. So I started running. I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, my bag slapping hard against my hip as the cop yelled something behind me and his partner jumped out of the car and took off after me.

Making it to the mall was little more than a pipe dream for me now. The sign might be in sight, but it was still more than a quarter of a mile away from me and I knew that I couldn't run that far non stop without exhausting myself. I risked a quick glance behind me and saw that I was outpacing the female cop chasing me. Her partner was nowhere in sight. I imagined that he was calling for backup.

I cut down a side road and by the time that the cop and cut down the same road I was ducking into a small back alley between buildings. The only thing in the alley was a dumpster that had started to overflow. The smell of old rotting food hovered thick in the air and I was fighting not to vomit from the smell. I watched from behind the dumpster as the cop ran straight past the alley, unsure if she had seen it or not. Not wanting to be there any longer than I had to be, I only waited a couple of minutes before dashing down the rest of the alley and onto another back road. Taking a moment to breath in some air that did not stink of moldy food, I glanced around my surroundings. I wasn't that far from home. If I could just get back to the main road it would only be about a 15 minute walk.

I only managed to take a few steps down the road before I heard footsteps coming up behind me. Turning around I saw that it was the cop that had been chasing me. She must have circled the block and just happened to see me.

"Don't move," she warned me loudly drawing something from her belt. I could only assume that it was a taser.

I heard her swear loudly as I turned around and made a mad dash down the road headed towards the main highway. I was only twenty feet away when I skidded to a stop. Two more cops had turned the corner and stood facing me, both had tasers drawn and pointed at me.

"Damn it," I muttered to myself trying to see a way out of this situation. I really didn't want to go to jail over two sweatshirts and a crappy fake necklace. The main road was out as there was no way around the two cops standing on the corner. I didn't know what to do.

"Hands up now!" One of the two cops blocking my way back to the main road shouted taking a couple of steps towards me and I took a step back.

I put my hands up slowly, trying to weigh my options. They were very few. The cop was yelling something about my bag, but I wasn't really paying attention. I took another step backwards as the two in front of me advanced. Taking a quick glance behind me I saw my opening and knew what I needed to do. I had to rush past the one female cop. If I could get past her I knew I could escape. I was faster than her. It was one of the most risky and stupid things I could attempt given my current situation and the fact that I had three tasers pointed at me. I had never been tased before, but I can't imagine it being a pleasant experience.

I looked at the two cops in front of me and gestured towards my bag. "May I set this down?" I asked them, doing my best to keep the panic out of my voice.

They looked at each other and nodded. "Slowly," one of them said. "Don't make any sudden movements and get on the ground."

I nodded and slid the bag over my head and off of my shoulder. Holding it out in front of me, I crouched down as if I were going to set the bag down in front of me. I saw one of the cops relax and let out a big sigh and that was when I made my move. I flung my bag at the two of them and before they could react I turned and sprinted towards the female cop behind me. I could see the look of shock on her face as she fumbled with her taser as I quickly got closer. I shoved her out the way as hard as I could, hoping it would knock her to the ground and give me more time to get out of sight.

She was tougher than she looked though and barely moved from my push. It was still enough for me to get by her though, but not enough for me to make it very far. I made it less than five feet past her before I felt a sharp prick in my back and every muscle in my body seized up. It was a pain that I couldn't describe and it felt like I was falling in slow motion. I couldn't even get my hands out in front of me to break the fall. My face smashed against the cement ground and I tasted blood instantly. It felt like my nose was broken and a moment later I had three cops pinning me to the ground, the heaviest of the three had his knee pinning me down by the small of my back to prevent me from getting up. It's not like I could get up anyway, my muscles still didn't want to work.

They were yelling in my ears, telling me not to resist as if I could resist. The lady cop handed one of the others her handcuffs and he clamped them a little tighter than necessary on my wrists before yanking me up to my knees.

"That was stupid!" The cop that had pulled me up yelled in my face, giving my arm another yank causing me to wince in pain.

All I could do is look at the ground. I knew that I was fucked this time. It was not the first time that I had been caught for petty theft, but I had probably made it a lot worse by shoving a cop. They were probably going to charge me with assault. The cops yanked me roughly to my feet hurting my arms and shoulders even more and slowly started walking me back to the main road where I could only assume a car was parked.

The sun was blinding off of the back road with no buildings to block its glare. Several people were gathering around to see what all of the commotion was about and a few whispered about the state of my face. I hadn't had a chance to see the damage yet, but based on the expressions of the onlookers, it couldn't be good. I was shoved roughly against the cop car and patted down by the female who found the stolen necklace while the other two rummaged through my bag. They pulled out the sweatshirts and found my ID tucked into a side pocket.

"Madison Gratton," he read aloud squinting at the name and date of birth. "17 years old." He took another look at me. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you are in little girl? Why would you throw your life away like this? I mean, petty theft is one thing, but you assaulted a police officer." When I didn't answer he just sighed in disgust. "Get her out of her."

One of the cops opened the back door to the cruiser and the other shoved me in roughly causing me to fall down sideways on the seat before I was yanked upright hard by my arm and strapped in with the seatbelt. The door slammed shut and I saw one of the cops yelling at the now growing crowd to disperse while the woman and her heavyset partner climbed into the front and pulled off taking me to jail.

Authors Notes:

I feel like it's every story that I post is one that I have been sitting on for way too long before I finally decide to put it to paper…or text document as it were. Well this is another one that I've been sitting on for way to long. What I have decided to do at the end of each chapter this time is to leave my album of the chapter. It will be the main artist and album that I listened to when I started said chapter. What I hope to do is to maybe introduce my readers that I adore so much to some music that they may not know, so here it is.

Chapter 1 album: Killswitch Engage. As Daylight Dies (Special Edition) 2006


	2. Jail

Chapter 2: Jail

Everything that happened the rest of the day seemed to pass by in a haze. I was sent through processing, had my photo taken, and booked on petty theft and simple assault. I was of course offered one phone call, which I chose not to use. Being that I was a minor, I was certain that my foster family would be contacted one way or another and I didn't want to be the one to tell them that I had been arrested once again.

The holding cell they placed me in was filthy. As I sat in the corner, I counted six other people in the cell, all looking as miserable as I felt, two of whom looked to be on the verge of tears. Most all of them looked to be younger than me. Nobody was really talking to one another.

I knew it was only a matter of time before my foster family showed up. What I didn't know was whether they would be coming to get me or whether they would be leaving me to sit here.

Time was passing by at a snail's pace. I didn't know how long I had been sitting in that cell, but my eyelids started to feel heavy and my breathing slowed down. I don't know how long I had fallen asleep for, but the sound of my name cut into my uneasy slumber.

"Gratton!" The voice sounded like it was coming from very far away. It echoed in my subconscious as if traveling down an empty tunnel. "Gratton! Wake up, you have a visitor!"

My whole body convulsed as I was pulled out of my sleep. I looked around groggily trying both to remember what I had been dreaming about and not quite taking in where I was. Whatever my dream had been was pushed far from my mind as the cell came into full view and everything that was going on rushed back into my mind. I looked around and noticed that everyone was staring at me like I was insane. A guard was standing by the cell door eyeing me with suspicion.

"Gratton," he called out again, a little louder than was necessary. "Come on, you have a visitor."

I stood up and walked slowly to the door as everyone eyed me with a combination of envy and anger. The guard opened the door and I quickly stepped out as he slammed it shut once more and locked it with one of the many keys that he carried. "Come with me," he grumbled as if doing what he was being paid to do was the most inconvenient thing in existence.

I nodded and he grabbed me roughly by the arm pulling me forward. He led me down a series of narrow corridors lined with several doors that I could only assume served as offices or smaller non holding cells. We passed through a semi large empty room that had several tables and chairs inside of it and a small ancient television set that looked like it was from the 1980's. I could only assume that it was some kind of recreation room where occupants of the jail were allowed at certain times of day. Through another door and down another tiny dimly lit corridor and we arrived. The guard opened a metal door that had a tiny plexiglass window near the top of it and walked me into a tiny room with a small table and two chairs. Sitting on one of the chairs was my foster mother looking only slightly less furious than she did the first time I had been caught stealing.

The moment that I sat down across from her she stood up and reached across the table slapping me across the face hard. I winced at the blow, not because it hurt, but because I was not sure what the guard standing in the corner was going to do. He did nothing except smirk in my direction.

She sat back down and stared at me for a good few minutes, eyes full of rage, before she finally spoke. "Why?" Was all she said and when I didn't answer she stood up again and raised her hand, this time in a closed fist.

It was only then that the guard stepped in to restrain her slightly and I just looked down. I didn't know why I did the things I did. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I was bounced from foster home to foster home for most of my life, never having a real family. Part of me blamed my parents for dying when I was so young, which I knew wasn't fair. It wasn't their fault that they had been in a car accident. I knew that I needed to do better and I occasionally tried. I would go straight for months or a year or more at a time, but then boredom would set in and I would start to crave that rush of adrenaline that only shoplifting had been able to provide. This wasn't the first time that I had been arrested, but it was the most serious charge by far. Usually when I had gotten caught, I would just let myself be taken in. I had never gotten physical with a cop before and I think that is why my foster mother was more angry than normal.

"I'm so tired of this shit," she said sounding less angry and more defeated. "I'm tired of the stress that you put not only on me, but your siblings."

"I can explain," I tried to say, but was cut off at once.

"No, the hell you can't Madison!" She shouted slamming her hand down on the metal table. "And even if you had some explanation for doing this shit again, I wouldn't want to hear it!"

I was starting to get pissed off now. It wasn't enough that I was sitting in jail already, but now she was going to sit here screaming at me. Part of me knew that deep down I deserved it, but I didn't care. Yes, she had taken me and fostered me, but she had also treated me like shit since before I had started stealing. It wasn't just me that she treated badly though, the rest of the children, all of whom were younger than me, were treated badly; and I was sick and tired of it.

"I've given your hooligan ass a home for years. I've put up with you only because no one else wanted your ass." She eyed me now like I was prey, like she was just waiting for something and smirked when she saw how red my face was turning. "You're a waste of a human life! Too bad you weren't in that car with your parents all those years ago."

I completely lost it. My chair went sliding across the floor as I jumped up and made to launch myself over the table at her. I didn't care about where I was or about the consequences of what I was about to do. All I knew was that I wanted to hurt her. I felt my feet leave the ground, but before I could get my hands on her I was grabbed and slammed to the ground. I didn't hit the ground nearly as hard as when I was arrested, but still hard enough to knock the wind out of me. In an instant I was back in handcuffs and the bitch that was my foster mother was standing over me smiling a yellow toothy grin.

"You can sit in here and rot," she said, once again flashing her cigarette stained teeth at me. "If you do manage to get out, never darken my doorstep again."

"Fine with me!" I shouted fighting against my urge to struggle against the guard restraining me as he jerked me roughly upright to my feet and led me out of the room.

It was a long walk back to the holding cell, the only noise coming from the guard mumbling under his breath about my outburst. It had not been my finest moment, but then again nothing about this situation would go down on my list of fine moment.

Once I was back into the cell, I took the same seat that I had before I left. Anger still coursed through my veins and I could feel the heat in my face. A few people looked at me with a mixture of concern and fear in their eyes, like they thought I was going to get up and take a swing at them. I leaned back against the cold concrete wall and closed my eyes, trying to let the anger I was feeling fade from my system. That was easier said than done knowing I was going to have to sit here for who knows how long. And even when I did get out I had nowhere to go. Turning 18 in just over a month meant that no foster home would take me. I would be on the streets. I would have to get a job somewhere, but with my record it would be hard for me to find anything.

As time passed by, I could feel my anger slowly fading, replaced by a feeling that I could not quite identify. It didn't feel like panic or fear, I felt calmer than anything and it confused me given the current situation. When I opened my eyes, I noticed that someone had moved over to sit by me. She looked younger than not only me, but the others that were in here as well. The look on her face told me that she had never been so scared as she was now. I understood. I had felt the same the first time I had been arrested. Neither of us said anything, but I let her stay where she was. If sitting by me made her feel marginally safer than who was I to deny her that.

It wasn't until the next day that I saw anyone new. Throughout the night all but one other person in the holding cell had been released to parents. The girl that had taken comfort in being next to me was one of the first released and as strange as it sounded, because we spoke not a single word to each other, I missed her. It had been a long dreary night with more than a few tears shed by those in the cell.

A young-looking female guard approached the cell and eyed me cautiously. She looked to need a few more cups of coffee to really get the morning going. "Gratton," she said, her soft voice trying to sound tough, but betraying her. She had to have been a new one. "You have a visitor. Come with me."

I nodded and walked to the cell door trying not to look too confused. Who could be coming to visit me? All I had were my foster parents and now I didn't even have them. She let me out of the cell, leaving only one person left in holding, and led me down the same corridors to the same small room that I had saw my now ex foster mom in. This time when the door to the visitation room was opened, I was greeted by a middle-aged man in a sharp suit smiling warmly at me.

As I walked over, he stood up and extended his hand, which I could see had several thick scars marring it. "Miss Gratton, I presume." I cautiously shook his hand and he smiled once again and sat down. I took the seat across from him and he crossed his hands on the metal table eyeing me softly. "My name is William Miles," he said quietly, eyes flitting over to the petit guard standing watch in the corner as if he did not want her to hear him. "I am an attorney here to represent you during this…trying time." He said all of this very quietly as if he did not trust that it was only the two of us and one guard in the room.

"An attorney?" I said confused, a little louder than I intended. I had never had an attorney before. No one had ever cared enough to get me one when I had been in trouble, so why would I have one now? Who would have gotten me one? "I don't understand," I said trying not to stumble over my words. "I know I can't afford an attorney."

William Miles waved one of his hands in a dismissive way. "My fees are already taken care of," he said warmly and smiled again.

"Who hired you?" I asked, a slight note of suspicion creeping into my steady voice.

William looked from me to the guard and back before speaking again, this time noticeably louder than before. "I hate to be an inconvenience," he said, "but would it be at all possible to have a couple of minutes alone to talk with my client?"

The guard eyes us both for a moment before nodding slightly. "Five minutes," she said and opened the door.

"Ten!" William called out to her in a tone of voice that said he was not someone to be trifled with. The guard looked taken aback, but simply nodded and closed the door behind her. Once they were alone William leaned in close to me and spoke in a voice that slightly below a whisper. "We don't have much time, so I need you to listen to me." He waited for me to nod before continuing. "A few associates as well as I am quite familiar with you Madison. To say the very least we have taken particular interest in your…unique situation."

I stared at him bewildered, not sure what to say. "Who the hell are you?" I asked. This man was making me slightly nervous. He had kind eyes, but beyond that he wore the expression of a man that had lived a hard-stressful life. "And what do you mean my unique situation?"

He eyed me like I should have understood already. "It is as I said, my name is William Miles. I will say, now that we are alone, that I am not truly an attorney; but I do have the power to make all of this right for you. I can get you out of here. My associates and I can offer you a new life"

I leaned back away from William. Something about the things he was saying and the tone he was speaking in made me uneasy. Why would he lie about being a lawyer? And how could he offer me a new life. He must have read my expression because when he next spoke it was in a voice so low that I had to strain to hear it.

"It's not safe for me to say much more," he said as his eyes left mine and darted towards the door. "I've learned that there are very few places that the walls do not have ears." He checked his watch and cursed under his breath. "Time is almost up. I know this is going to be hard, but I just need you to trust me for now. I can get you out of here and then I can tell you everything."

My heart was pounding at a mile a minute now. I had gone from relieved to see this man that I had never met, to uneasy, and now downright scared. He wanted me to trust him, but I had no reason to…except that at this point I had almost no choice. "Give me one reason to trust anything that you are saying," I said, my voice breaking slightly for the first time since I had gotten arrested.

William looked at me like he had me exactly where he wanted me. As if I had just said the one thing that he had been waiting on. He leaned across the small table until his lips were mere inches away from my ears and for some reason I did not shy away. The words he whispered to me seemed to echo in my brain. "I knew your parents," he said slowly, enunciating each and every word. "And everything you have ever been told about them was a lie."

My blood ran cold. Goosebumps popped up on my arms and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I wasn't sure what I expected, but it sure as hell wasn't that. William leaned back in his chair and folded his hands on the table just as the door to the room opened and the female guard walked back in accompanied by a male colleague. They eyed both of us, taking in my expression and the warm smile that was once again on William's face. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. What did he mean by everything that I had been told was a lie? I didn't want to trust him, he made me too uneasy, but it seemed that if I wanted out of here, I had no choice. The thought that I could always use him to get out and then run creeped into my brain.

William spoke again, his voice back to normal. "Well Miss Gratton, this has certainly been a pleasant meeting and as I said, with just a little work I am sure that we can make the best of this very unfortunate situation."

His voice was warm once again, but his eyes pierced into me. I knew what I had to do. I gave William the most subtle of nods telling him that I understood. "Thank you so much, Mr. Miles." I said doing my best to keep my voice steady and smiling.

William extended his hand and I once again shook it. "Just hang tight for a little while longer," he said looking at the two guards. "We should have you out of here sometime today." I nodded and he smiled. "It was so nice meeting you and I look forward to working with you."

With that he walked out of the room and the two guards motioned for me to follow them back to my holding cell. All the way they were whispering to each other so low that I could not fully make out what they were saying. I only caught a few words here and there, but I was not to concerned about whatever they were saying. My mind had a million other things racing through it. Did William really know my parents and if he did, how did he know them? What lies had I been told? And most importantly, who was he? I had so many questions that I didn't get to ask, but for now I had no choice but to wait and hope that he really could get me out.

I was placed back in my holding cell. As it was when I was taken out, only one person was left inside of it with me and she was currently curled up in a ball on one of the metal benches sleeping. I felt overly tired myself, but I knew my mind would not let me fall asleep. I spent the rest of the morning trying my best to remember anything I could about my parents, but I had only been two when they died. I never had any photos or anything of them and they only thing any of the several foster parents had told me was that they had died in some sort of accident. Could it really have been all a lie. I was desperate for any information, but for now all I could do was to continue to wait.

Chapter 2 album of choice: Marilyn Manson: The Pale Emperor (2015)


	3. The Truth Revealed

Chapter 3: The Truth Revealed

"Gratton!" A guard yelled at me through the bars of the cell. "You're being released."

My heart skipped a beat as I looked up. Could it really be true? Could William have been telling me the truth about getting me out of here? A heavyset guard who looked like he could have been related to the one that arrested me was fiddling with a large set of keys trying to find the one to my cell. Next to him was a girl that looked to be in her early to mid-thirties with short hair that was partially covered by a beanie, she was only slightly taller than I was, and her black jeans were tastefully torn in similar places to mine. Heavy looking black boots came halfway up her calves. She was wearing a form fitting t-shirt of a 90's grunge band that I loved. A pair of expensive looking headphones were draped around her neck. Smile lines lined her eyes as she smiled warmly at me. I immediately thought that we would get along very well.

As soon as I walked out of the cell the girl placed a soft hand on my shoulder. She was still smiling as the guard led us through the jail. Back in the processing area I was given back my possessions that I had on me when I was arrested. Naturally the two shirts and necklace were gone, not that I was dense enough to expect stolen goods to be returned to me. Everything else was there though, my earbuds, my wallet, and my phone which of course had a dead battery by now and I had no charger.

Neither the girl here to get me nor myself said a thing to each other until the two guards escorted us to the parking lot and then promptly left us. I looked up to the sky and took a deep breath of fresh air. The air was thick with moisture. The dark clouds hovering overhead told me that there was a good chance that rain would be coming very soon. The air felt good though. A slight chill hung in the air, not enough to make me wish that I had a coat, but just enough to send a pleasant chill through me.

The girl gave me a gentle bump on my shoulder with her own. "Jails are the worst huh?" She said smiling and pulling out a fancy looking smartphone to check the time.

So much for exchanging names, I thought to myself. I smiled back at her. "Spent some time in them?" I asked hoping the question wasn't out of line.

She gestured to a dark red convertible and clicked a button to unlock the door. I climbed in the passenger seat not even thinking twice about getting in a car with someone that I had never met before. I didn't have much to lose anyway seeing as I was now homeless and had only the clothes on my back. She of course jumped into the driver seat and started the engine. It roared to life as the girl hit another button to lower the top on the car. "A few times, yeah," she said with a slight hint of pride in her voice that confused me. "But that is not important at the moment." She put the car in gear and hit the gas a little harder than was probably advisable considering where we were and gave me a mischievous grin.

"So, I suppose you are also not a lawyer," I said trying not to smile at her carefree attitude as the wind whipped through my hair.

"Did I ever claim to be?" She asked pulling out onto the highway and taking her eyes off of the road to look at me. "You are correct in that assessment though. I am not a lawyer, and neither is William." She quickly took her hand off of the gear shift and slapped her forehead. "Oh, how stupid of me!" She exclaimed and held out a hand to me. "I'm Rebecca Crane. I can't believe I actually forgot to introduce myself."

I reached across and shook her hand. "Madison Gratton," I said simply. I didn't know what it was about Rebecca that made me so inclined to trust her less than an hour after we had met, but I did trust her. More-so than I trusted William at least. I guess it was because I now had no one else and William had been true to his word of getting me out of jail.

"A pleasure," Rebecca said releasing my hand and putting it back on the gear shift. "Of course, I already knew your name. William told me all about you, well as much as he actually knew, before he sent me to get you."

"Did you guys really know my parents?" I asked.

Rebecca glanced at me as if she knew this question was coming. "Myself, I did not. William did, though I am not sure how well he knew them. All I know is that they were very well known within the order."

"The Order?"

Rebecca slapped a hand over her mouth like she had said too much. "Damn it," she said. "I wasn't supposed to mention anything about that. Just forget I said anything please."

"What do you mean the order?" I asked her. "What kind of order?"

Rebecca slowed to a stop at a red light and looked at me sadly. It looked like she really wanted to tell me all that she knew. "You will know everything soon enough," she said gently touching my shoulder. "I promise.

"Okay," I said nodding slowly as the light turned green and Rebecca hit the gas a little too hard causing the tires to spin before the car launched forward. "So where are we going?"

"To see William," Rebecca responded simply as if the answer should have been obvious. Her light tone caused me to laugh slightly. "Now, why don't you put us some music on."

I pulled out my dead phone with the shattered screen and quickly flashed it to Rebecca. "No can do," I said sadly.

Rebecca took one look at my mangled phone and shook her head. "This won't do at all I am afraid," she said while quickly removing her phone from one of the pockets of her tight jeans. With a few swipes of her finger she called someone. "William," she said over the rush of wind. "Yeah, I have her." Rebecca waited a moment before speaking again. "We're on our way now, but I need to make one quick stop. It should only put us a few minutes behind." Another moment passed. "Poor girls' phone is wrecked. Yes yes, I know." She tapped the touch screen once more and hung up.

"I don't have money for a new phone," I said sadly while putting the broken one back in my pocket.

Rebecca just waved off my comment like it didn't matter and kept on driving. She synced her own phone up the radio and with a few swipes and taps a 90's rock band started blaring. It was one of my favorite bands and I quickly found myself nodding my head and bouncing a little in my seat which seemed to amuse Rebecca who was singing along loudly. I leaned back in my seat and started singing along with Rebecca. A feeling a peace and freedom flowed through me that only music could provide. It had always been my escape. I no longer cared who William or Rebecca were or what order they were a part of. All that mattered was that I was out of jail and away from that woman that called herself my foster mother. I worried for the younger children that lived with her, but I figured that was a problem that I could solve another time.

My eyes started to feel heavy. I didn't realize just how tired I actually was. I didn't know how long I had nodded off for, but it only felt like a few moments before Rebecca gently nudged me in my side. I awoke with a start, my whole-body flinching. Rebecca had pulled to a stop in a small strip mall. "Sorry to wake you," she said softly. "Especially when you looked so peaceful."

"It's fine," I said sleepily and stifling a yawn. "How long was I out for?"

"Only about fifteen minutes," Rebecca responded looking around. "I know how tired you must be. We don't have much further to go, but if you have a nap now you will probably only feel worse. Better to just force yourself to stay awake and have a good proper night's sleep tonight. Now give me just a few minutes and I will be right back."

Rebecca gracefully jumped out of the car without even opening the door and a moment later vanished into a small shop that had partially tinted glass windows. The sign on the door told me that the shop mostly dealt in prepaid burner phones. I had never thought of a legitimate reason that anyone would need a burner phone unless they had something to hide, and the secrecy that Rebecca was showing told me that both her and William had things to hide, but I was not worried about that anymore.

Rebecca came out of the store several minutes later holding a shiny new phone in her hand. One look at it told me that it was the newest version of my broken one which had been at least 6 years old at the time of it being broken. She gracefully slid back behind the steering wheel and handed me the phone. "I've programmed my cell number in it for you. Please know that you can call me anytime for anything."

Tears welled up in my eyes as I looked at the phone. I didn't know what to say. No one had ever done anything that nice for me before, least of all someone that I had only known for less than a day.

"Hey hey, none of that now," Rebecca said when she saw my eyes.

I wiped away the tears that had started to roll down my cheek and did my best to keep my voice from breaking as I spoke. "I'm sorry," I said, my voice breaking despite me fighting it. "I just…I don't…thank you," I finally managed to say as everything else failed me.

"Think nothing of it," Rebecca said with a smile waving off my thanks. "Everyone needs a good phone. Plus, we're friends and I want to be able to stay in touch."

Friends, I thought to myself as Rebecca started the car up and pulled out of the lot and back onto the main road. Friendship was somewhat of a foreign concept to me. Sure, I had some of the kids that I had grown up with in the foster homes, but after they had been adopted, we naturally lost contact. I had tried my best to make friends with the younger kids as well, but I was always less the friend and more the older sister. I wondered if that's how Rebecca was going to view me, as a little sister, and if she had any siblings of her own. She seemed sweet enough and I trusted her, but I of course knew nothing about her…yet.

"We're about 45 minutes out," Rebecca called out somewhat loudly as the top of the car was still down and the wind was rushing hard. "Enjoy the ride and get to know your new phone." She tapped her own phone a few times and the music roared back to life, the same album we had left off on.

I suddenly felt wide awake knowing that we were close to wherever Rebecca was taking me. The sun was quickly starting to set behind us. It was a beautiful sight; the sky turning a golden orange color, the waves from the Gulf crashing ashore along the sandy beaches. I found the camera on my phone and took a quick selfie to have as a reminder of this day. Rebecca saw what I was doing and quickly leaned over telling me to take one of the two of us. I obliged and went back to staring at the ocean admiring the beauty.

The remainder of the drive passed almost without incident. At one point while we were sitting at a red light a man pulled up alongside of us. He was driving a rather large truck that looked like he was trying to compensate for something. He made an extremely vulgar comment to Rebecca and me to which she responded by threatening to rip off his most treasured appendage and force feed it to him. The guy revved the engine of the compensation truck and sped off like a bat out of hell after that. The two of us laughed and went back to enjoying the rest of the drive all the while singing and dancing in the seats the music playing.

The sun had completely set by the time that Rebecca pulled down off the main highway and down a side road. We had left the ocean view behind and were now surrounded by a small cluster of trees. From the side road she turned down an even smaller path that led through a large metal spiked gate. There were no lights along the path which made it almost impossible to see where it was leading. Raindrops started to lightly fall. I was surprised that the rain had held off this long. Rebecca didn't stop to put the top up on the car which told me that we had arrived where she had taken me. A large two-story house came into view as we got further down what I now knew was a driveway. The driveway ended in a circular path that allowed for multiple vehicles to be parked. At the moment one other vehicle was parked. It was sleek looking jet black four door car that was all but completely hidden in the dark. The only reason I saw it so easily was because Rebecca pulled up behind the car illuminating it with headlights. She pulled up behind the black car and closed the convertible top before killing the engine.

I climbed out of the car and stared up at the house. It gave me a strong sense of familiarity even though I was certain that I had never been here in my life. I glanced up and saw a beautiful balcony jutting out from side by side glass doors on the second floor. All of the windows had been obscured by black curtains making it impossible to see inside. Rebecca came to stand beside me and placed a hand on my shoulder guiding me forward as the rain started to fall a little more heavily. A large wooden door with a blacked-out window stood in front of us. Maybe it was because of it being dark and the windows all being covered, but the whole exterior of the house gave me a horror movie vibe. Rebecca knocked softly twice and opened the door letting us in.

The foyer was rather large. A chandelier hung high up from the ceiling. I could see cobwebs hanging from it. The whole entryway had a bit of a musty smell as if no one had occupied it for several years. A winding staircase sat to the left of the entrance leading up the second floor. The kitchen to the right was dark and looked like it had gone unused for quite some time. The upstairs was pitch black, but I had a strong desire to go explore it. The only light in the house seemed to be coming from a large room towards the back. The light was dim but seemed to carry far down the long dark hallway.

As Rebecca led me down the hallway, I noticed a couple of closed doors and couldn't help but wonder what was behind them. I honestly hoped one of them was a bathroom. I felt filthy after my short stint in jail. I had a feeling that would have to wait though. As we entered the dimly lit room, I saw that it was a rather sizable den. A small fireplace had been installed in one of the walls. A large sofa with loveseats on either side of it surrounded a beautiful ebony coffee table. Various photos were hung on the wall, most of them looked professionally done, and all featured the same two or three people; some were a handsome looking man and what I could only assume was his equally good looking wife while one or two featured a small girl with the couple. The photos made me feel emotional for some reason that I couldn't explain. A large television sat on stand against a wall and one look at it told me that it was quite old. The only other thing in the room was a bookcase that was packed to capacity that took up almost one full wall of the den on its own.

Sitting on one of the loveseats, his nose buried in a thick book, was William Miles. He turned to face me as soon as he realized that Rebecca and I had entered the room. He stood up and spread his arms wide. "Welcome," he said gesturing to the sofa indicating that I should sit down. "I am so happy that you made it here safely and before the weather gets too bad."

I walked over and took a seat on the second loveseat while Rebecca took the sofa. They looked at each other briefly before turning their attention to me. It seemed that they were waiting for me to speak. "Who are you two?" I asked as my eyes darted between them and around the room to the photos hanging up. "Whose house is this? It looks like it has been all but abandoned for years."

William nodded at each question as if he expected every single one of them. "You are correct in your assessment," he said eyeing me and glancing at one of the photos. "This house has been all but abandoned for quite a few years…fifteen years as a matter of fact." He looked over to Rebecca who nodded at him before continuing. "As to who we are, for now all I will say is that I considered your parents close friends of mine. We had worked together quite a few times in the past." He stood up and walked over to a wall and took down one of the framed photos that had three people in it before coming back and sitting next to me. "And to answer your last question," William said somberly pointing at the photo in his hand, "this house belonged to Nora and Jack Gratton. Your parents, and now, by right, it belongs to you." He handed me the photo before returning to the other loveseat. "Welcome home Miss Gratton."

I stared at the photograph for several moments trying to wrap my head around this. It made sense now why I felt a small sense of familiarity when I first say the house. I had been here before, but I had just been too young to really remember it, though some small part of it must have remained in the very back of my mind. I ran my finger across the dusty glass of the frame trying to memorize my parent's young faces. A single tear rolled down my cheek as I looked up and saw William staring at me. "Tell me about them," I said still holding onto the photo. "What lies have I been told about them?"

William looked to Rebecca and back to me before speaking. "You were always told that Jack and Nora died in a tragic accident. That was a lie. Their deaths were not accidents at all"

Rebecca got up off of the sofa and came to sit next to me. "What are you talking about?" I asked. There was an edge to my voice that I was not sure where came from.

"Jack and Nora…were murdered," William said quietly. His eyes never left mine as he spoke the words.

"Excuse me," I said a little harshly. "What do you mean they were murdered?"

"It's true," Rebecca said sadly as William nodded.

"I don't understand," I said eyeing them both. "What happened to them that they would have been murdered?"

William let his eyes roam to the photographs lining the walls before turning his attention back to me. "The time is now," he said. "You deserve to know the truth about not only who your parents were, but who we are as well. The truth about who and what you can be if you choose it."

I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees waiting for William to continue. Part of me was still reluctant to trust him. Glancing over at Rebecca I noticed that she was watching my carefully. Her I did trust, I was still not entirely sure why, but her presence gave me comfort.

"Please keep an open mind about what you are about to learn," William said. "Because it is all the truth, and once you learn it your life will never be the same." He took a deep breath and locked his eyes onto mine. "Your parents were a part of a very secret order."

I held my breath and glanced at Rebecca for a moment remembering that she had mentioned an order of some kind on the drive here. She had told me that I would learn what it meant, and it seemed that I was about to. I gave William a small nod indicating that he should continue.

"Your parents were Assassin's," William said.

I don't know what I was expecting him to say, but it sure wasn't that. It had to be some kind of elaborate joke. I looked down at the photograph in my hand. Were the people shown even my parents? "Is this some kind of joke?" I asked

Rebecca looked at me gently as if she knew how it all sounded. She shook her head, "No, your parents were sadly casualties in a war that has been raging for more than a thousand years."

The mixture of confusion and doubt must have been quite evident on my face because William gave me a few moments to attempt to process before he continued on. "The war is a very hidden on," he said softly but firmly. "Between the Templars and Assassins. And it is, as Rebecca just stated, a war that has raged on quietly in the shadows for over a thousand years now."

"Templars?" I said growing more confused with every word that was spoken to me. "Like the Knights Templar from the crusades?" I was now certain that they were fucking with me but wasn't sure why I felt the need to go along with it.

"Correct," William said as Rebecca nodded. "Though that was in ancient times. The modern Templars have a way of hiding in plain sight, which ironically, is one of the codes of the Assassins. I am sure you have heard of Abstergo Industries?"

"Who hasn't?" I said with a small shrug. "Pharmaceuticals, technology, pretty sure they have a hand in government. At this point they control most of the world."

"Exactly," William said nodding at me as if I should have gotten it already. "They have their dirty hands in everything. It is all a front though, to cover for their actual goal of wiping the Assassin order out. You see, Abstergo is the cover for the modern-day Templar Order." He gestured to Rebecca and himself. "The two of us are Assassins and I am one of the leaders of the Order."

I glanced quickly between the two of them and sighed. "You realize how all of this sounds right?"

"Sounds like we're insane, right?" Rebecca said chuckling lightly. "I know, because it is exactly what I thought it sounded like when I was recruited."

"You have your doubts, which is understandable," William said. "Which is naturally understandable, this is quite a lot to take in of course. If you will let me, I can show you proof to back up my words."

"Fine," I said and sighed. I didn't know what kind of proof they could offer me, but they had gotten me out of jail and clearly, they believed what they were saying so I figured the least I could do is see what they had to show me.

William stood up and walked to the giant bookcase along the far wall. He ran his fingers across one of the middle shelves until he found a thick book with a dark red cover and removed it from the shelf. He was examining something that I couldn't see on the back of the shelf. After a moment he turned to face me and motioned. "Over here if you would, Madison," he said.

I stood up and slowly walked to the bookcase with Rebecca following me. I saw what William had been looking at. Hidden behind the thick book that he had taken from the shelf was an electronic keypad. The numbers on it were faded from age but still readable. William handed me a folded piece of paper and told me to memorize what was on it before he turned away from me and tapped several of the numbers on the keypad in quick succession. I heard a soft click as if something had unlocked and stared in wonder and the bookcase split apart just to the left of the keypad. As the bookcase slid further apart, I noticed that it was uncovering a moderate size metal door that had been built into the floor. William reached down and opened the door revealing a metal ladder that seemed to lead under the house.

Taking a step back, I stared at the opening in the floor feeling nervous. I had seen enough movies and read enough books to know that a hidden room usually meant bad news. "Please don't be afraid," William said catching sight of my face as I stepped back. "I need you to trust that neither Rebecca nor myself mean you any harm. Quite the contrary in fact, we both wish to protect you from harm."

I looked to Rebecca and she nodded. "Okay," I said nervously. "So, what is down there?"

"Everything you need to know about who your parents were and what they died for," William said as he lowered himself onto the ladder and began to descend into the darkness below. A few moments later I saw lights coming up from the opening and William called me down. Rebecca urged me forward and I climbed down the ladder with her close behind me.

The room below was small. The size of a bedroom at most. A couple of small bookcases were placed against the wall, only these did not seem to hold normal books. One of them seemed to have several binders that were each labeled with a different letter and the other had what looked to be various journals. Some looked somewhat new while others looked to be quite old. A long metal table sat in the center with a few chairs around it. On the table was various pieces of paper covered in a layer of dust. Some appeared to be maps while others looked like blueprints for a few buildings. The thing that I found the oddest in the room though was the fact that a large number of weapons lined the walls. Everything from short knives and daggers to deadly looking swords and wooden staves.

Rebecca went straight over to the table and began to examine the papers that were spread across it while William pulled a single journal from one of the cases and handed it to me. "Most of these journals were written by your mother or other Assassins," William told me. "Read them at your leisure."

Rebecca walked over to me carrying a few sheets of paper. One looked to be a blueprint of a very large church, one that I recognized at once. It was a large cathedral that I knew to be located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The other was a drawing of a beautiful looking golden ornate staff. Something about the drawing mesmerized me. "What is it?" I asked pointing to the drawing and William walked back over from the other side of the room.

"It is called a Piece of Eden," William said taking the drawing and looking at it sadly. "One of many that we believe to be held by the Templars. This, Madison, is what we fight for. This is what your parents died for."

"But what is it?" I asked. "What does it do?"

It was Rebecca that answered me. "It is an ancient technology," she said sitting down in one of the chairs and motioning to one next to her indicating that I should join her. "From a highly advanced civilization that existed several millennia before even the most ancient of humans. They are terribly powerful items, that in the wrong hands can cause untold devastation." She nodded to William telling him to continue the story while she started pouring over some of the papers on the table.

"No one is quite sure how many Pieces of Eden there actually are, but this is one of the core conflicts in the Assassin Templar war. It is the sworn duty of the Assassins to keep these artifacts out of Templar hands."

"But what exactly do they do?" I asked, finally accepting that there could be some truth to what William had said earlier.

William sighed. "I am not sure what exact powers this staff has or if it is even in the location that we think it is, but I can tell you that other artifacts have had the power to not only kill people, but to take away their free will completely. I've seen it firsthand, and it is a terrible thing to behold."

"Imagine if you will a world where a single group can control everything and everyone," Rebecca said looking up from the dusty papers. "No freewill to live your own life. That is what the Templars seek, full world domination, control over the entire human race. That is their end goal and they will kill anyone who stands in their way without hesitation."

"That is what we fight to prevent," William said taking over. "That is what your parents fought to prevent…that is what they died for. It is what I am willing to die for." He looked me dead in the eye before speaking again. "You were born into the Brotherhood Madison, just as your parents were and just as I was. Whether you choose to follow in your parents' footsteps is a choice that only you can make. I will not, nor do I have any desire to force you into this life. The choice is yours and yours alone."

Rebecca stood up and walked to stand next to William. "This is not a decision to be taken lightly," she said softly. "And I am sure William expects you to think it over for a bit before you make your decision."

"Naturally," William said and for the first time since I arrived at the house, I saw him smile. "I just want you to know that whatever choice you make we will respect. This house and all that is in it is also yours no matter your choice. In the meantime, I am going to have Rebecca stay here with you. I urge you to think this through carefully and read through some of your parent's journals to truly get a grasp on who they were and why they fought for our side."

Words were failing me. All I could manage was a small nod, but both William and Rebecca understood what it meant. I had accepted that they were telling me the truth about everything. With that one simple nod I was agreeing to make a choice that would forever change my life. "Okay," I managed to get out. "I will think about it," I said but knowing deep down that I had already made my decision. I wanted to know more. I wanted to know more about who my parents were, but in order to do that I would have to follow in their footsteps, continue their work.

"Very well," William said as I grabbed a few more of the journals off of the bookcase and the three of us made our way up the ladder and back into the den where William once again tapped a code on the keypad to conceal the room once more.

I was given a quick tour of the rest of the house by William before he left. Everything inside seemed to be dated, but I didn't care. It may not have felt like it just yet, but I knew I was home and a new stage of my life was starting. As I lay in the bed that once belonged to my parents' I thought about starting on the journals, but I could barely keep my eyes open. The last thing I remembered was the heavy rain pattering on the glass window. It was a soothing sound that lulled me into a peaceful sleep, and I knew that my life would never be the same.

Author's chapter albums:

La Roux: self-titled debut album (2009)

Whatever the hell was playing while I was at work :D

Authors note:

I am diligently working on chapter 4 of this story, but due to a hectic work schedule, both at my main job and my job as a photographer, I am behind schedule. As of this chapter getting posted I am about halfway to three quarters of the way through writing chapter 4. I ask that you please just bear with me as I will have it finished as soon as I am able to. Thanks for reading and I love you all

WitchyWolf


	4. Into The Animus

Chapter 4: Into The Animus

When I woke up the next morning I felt oddly refreshed. I couldn't remember the last time I had slept so soundly. With everything I had learned the previous evening I had expected to toss and turn and be plagued by bad dreams, but none of that had happened. I laid in bed for several minutes just staring up at the rotating ceiling fan. The black curtain that stretched tight over the window blocked out all but a few slivers of the morning light. I was enjoying just having such a large bed to myself and contemplating rolling over and going back to sleep when my stomach started growling quite loudly. It hadn't really hit me until just that moment that I had not really had a proper meal since I got arrested.

I rolled out of bed and looked myself over in the full-length mirror on the wall. I was still in the same clothes that I had been arrested in and I hadn't had a shower yet. I needed to remedy that quickly but was not sure how I could. I didn't have any money for either food or clothing. I sighed before leaving the room and walking downstairs.

There was a light on in the kitchen and the first thing I noticed was that everything looked cleaner. Rebecca must have gotten up early and dusted some things. I called out for her but did not get a response. That was when I saw a piece of paper sitting on the island counter. I grabbed it and read it to myself

_Madison,_

_ I went on a food run and figured that after everything you have been through over the past day or so that I would let you sleep in a little. I know that there is not much to do in the house at the moment, but you are always welcome to go back down in the hidden room and check things out more. It does all belong to you now after all. I shouldn't be gone to long, so just hang tight a short while longer and we will have breakfast and a fully stocked kitchen._

_Rebecca_

I placed the note back on the counter and looked around. The appliances, despite being dated by modern standards, were still nicer than anything that we had in the foster homes. I was looking forward to breakfast but more than that I wanted to ask Rebecca if she had some clothes I could borrow. I wanted a shower badly, but there was no point if I was just going to have to put on the same filthy clothes that I had on in that holding cell.

After a quick trip to the bathroom I decided to explore the grounds outside of the house a little bit. The sun was bright in the sky with only a few wispy white clouds marking the otherwise clear blue sky. All traces of the rain yesterday were gone. A slight smell of damp grass hung in the air and I inhaled deeply. Grass after a rainstorm had always smelled divine to me. A few trees were growing along the side and back of the house and the back porch had a rather sizable picnic table and benches along with a small hot tub that would need a generous cleaning before anyone could use it.

It wasn't but maybe twenty minutes that I had been outside before I heard a car approaching the front of the house. I walked around and saw that Rebecca was pulling up in the shiny red convertible. She gave me a friendly wave as she parked and hopped out of the car, not bothering to put the top up. "Lend me a hand?" She asked pressing a button on the key fob to open the trunk.

I nodded and peeked into the trunk of the car. It was packed full of grocery bags. It looked like Rebecca had bought enough food to last a few weeks. "I... I have no money to pay you for any of this," I said sounding slightly ashamed.

Rebecca just laughed. "You actually do, but that is neither here nor there. I would not ask you to pay me for any of this. Everyone has the right to food." She grabbed several bags in each hand and headed to the front door opening it with her elbow.

I grabbed as many bags as I could and followed her in. It only took one more trip to get everything in the house and a few minutes later when all of the food had been properly stored Rebecca and I sat at the table and devoured a few breakfast sandwiches from a fast food joint. Not the healthiest option, but tasty all the same. I savored each and every bite as if it was the most delicious thing I've ever eaten.

"So, have you thought any about the choice you have?" Rebecca asked through a mouthful of food.

"Mmhmm," I said nodding and swallowing a sip of coffee. "I didn't have much to think about actually." I took another sip of coffee before continuing. "I want to find out what happened. Why they died and who they really were."

Rebecca smiled and finished off the last bit of her breakfast. "I'm glad to hear that and I know William will be too. We need all the help we can get to keep the precursor artifacts out of Templar hands as well."

"Well I will help in any way that I can," I said. "I do have one small issue right now though," I went on and when Rebecca looked at me confused, I simply glanced down at my clothes that I had been wearing for close to three days.

"Got it," Rebecca said with an air of understanding. She thought for a moment before speaking again. "I know you have to feel absolutely gross right now, but we can take care of that. Just keep on what you are wearing right now, and we will go get you some things right now."

"I still have no way to pay for any of this," I said feeling bad that Rebecca was about to spend even more money on me. Accepting things from people had always been a major issue for me. I always felt like that I wasn't worth people spending money on me.

Rebecca waved my concerns. "Don't even worry about that. I'll have William explain your money situation later. Now go get ready as best as you can and let's go shopping."

Clothes shopping with Rebecca was an experience in itself. She took me to a rather sizeable outlet mall that had several different clothing shops as well as a few shoe stores and even a bookstore. In the short while that I had known Rebecca, I never got the impression that she was the kind of person that would particularly enjoy shopping, but as soon as we stepped inside of the shop that was blasting rock music she started darting around checking out the various shirts on display. Meanwhile I found a small clearance table and dug around through that. I was hoping to just find something that I liked that was cheap. I didn't want Rebecca spending more than she had to on me.

After a few minutes I found three cheap tee shirts and two cheap pair of jeans that I somewhat liked. I figured that these would do well enough for me and I could do laundry every other day. Rebecca walked up holding several shirts and a few pair of jeans that were both faded and ripped by design. She looked at what I was holding and just shook her head. "These will look better on you," she said brandishing the clothes she had in her hand at me.

I took them and shook my head at once when I saw the tags on them. "Absolutely not," I said. "There is no way I can accept someone spending this much on me."

"I told you not to worry about that," Rebecca said rolling her eyes. "It's all going to be taken care of and we are not done yet."

I sighed dejectedly and followed her to the checkout counter. Reluctantly I let the cashier ring up each item and felt a knot in my stomach as Rebecca handed over a couple hundred-dollar bills. She led me out of the clothing store and into a shoe store. Twenty minutes later we were walking out with a pair of sneakers and boots for me. One more shop yielded socks and undergarments. I didn't know what to say as we loaded the bags into the trunk of the car. What I did do was to hug Rebecca tightly and did my best to thank her as tears streamed down my cheek.

"None of that," Rebecca said smiling.

I wasn't normally emotional like this. I had always somewhat prided myself in my abilities to shut down my emotions. "I'm just not used to this," I said. "I don't know if I ever will be. No one has ever been this nice or caring towards me before."

"And I told you before, that is what friends are for." Rebecca put her arm around me and opened up the car door. "I've got your back and I trust you to have mine."

I nodded and jumped in the car. Rebecca peeled out of the parking lot and we were off. It was a short drive back to the house. We barely managed to get through three songs that we sang along with. As soon as I got inside, I dashed upstairs and put all but one outfit of my new clothes away and took a well needed shower. The hot water felt amazing. I couldn't remember the last time that I had enjoyed a shower that much. All of the tenseness in my muscles simply melted away with my worries and for the first time since I had gotten out of jail, I felt that everything was going to work out. I had the opportunity to find out who my parents were and by extension who I could be.

Rebecca was sitting at the kitchen table reading something on her phone when I finally got out of the shower. She smiled and made a comment about coming to check to see if I had drowned in there. I pulled a bottle of water out of the refrigerator and sat down across from her not sure what I should do now.

Rebecca answered that question before I could even ask it. "William is on his way over," she said looking up from her phone and smiling at my shirt. It was one of the ones that I picked up from the clearance rack. It had a photo of one of my favorite singers from before I was born on it. "He wants to talk to you about some things."

"Okay," I said before excusing myself from the table and dashing upstairs. I grabbed one of my mother's old journals from the room and brought it back down with me. I wanted to start reading them to maybe get more insight into who she was.

The journal didn't mention the Brotherhood all that much, but it did detail several trips and missions that her and my father had been on, some of which had taken them to countries that made me jealous that they got to visit. Some pages only mentioned meetings while others mentioned combat training. I flipped to what should have been the final page of the book and noticed that it had been roughly ripped out.

A knock at the door caused me to jump slightly and I dropped the book. Rebecca motioned to me indicating that I should answer it. I opened the door to reveal William standing there holding a tray with three cups of coffee in to go cups. He walked in and headed straight to the kitchen. A quick glance outside showed me that he was not in the sleek black car that he drove yesterday, but instead a large white van. I walked back to the kitchen where he had already taken a seat. He and Rebecca were already sipping on the coffee and a cup had been placed where I had been sitting.

"Madison," he said as I sat down and thanked him for the coffee before taking a generous swig of the scalding liquid. "I do hope that you are finding the house comfortable enough."

"It was surprisingly one of the most restful nights that I can remember having in a long time," I said nodding at him.

"I am glad to hear it," William said eyeing me with the same intense look that I had noticed the first time I had met him. "Truthfully, I was surprised when Rebecca told me that you had already made up your mind to join us."

"I didn't have much to think about to be honest," I said. "I know you said the house would be mine regardless, but I still had no direction or anything like that."

William nodded and glanced at Rebecca. "In that case, I believe the time is right to begin her training."

"What kind of training?" I asked as William got up and headed to the front door.

"You'll enjoy it," Rebecca said smiling and jogging out of the front to help William out.

I walked outside and saw that William was handing Rebecca pieces of equipment. They looked heavy and expensive. Peeking in the van I saw a long comfortable looking chair that took up a majority of the space. I wasn't sure how any of this equated to training or even what kind of training they were referring to, but I decided to just go along with it. Rebecca grabbed a couple of monitors while William picked up what looked to be a rather large PC tower and carried it through the house and into the den. I asked if they needed any help, but was told no. William brought in an oversized foldable plastic table next. I watched as the two of them made quick work at moving not only the sofa, but the loveseats as well and placed them against one of the far walls. It took a little work, but Rebecca and William managed to bring in the large lounge looking chair from the van and squeezed it through the doorway. It had required a fair bit of shifting around as they both seemed adamant about not even bumping it against a wall.

A few minutes later and it looked like they had whatever the machine was completely set up. The monitors had been plugged into the tower and the tower had been plugged into the weird looking chair. Rebecca quickly grabbed two chairs from the kitchen and sat them in front of the monitors on the table.

"So, what is all of this?" I asked impressed by how quickly they set everything up.

"This," Rebecca said proudly gesturing to the large lounge like chair, "is the Animus 2.0. I call her Baby." She patted the chair lovingly. "Not as fancy or technologically advanced as what the suits over at Abstergo have, but she hasn't let me down yet."

"And what exactly is an Animus?" I asked examining the chair. It had what looked to be a metal headrest that had a small bad laid into it and a small screen was attached to one of the arm rests.

"It is a highly advanced piece of machinery that will allow one to live out the memories of their ancestors," William said as if it should have been obvious. "Not only can you experience what your ancestors experienced, but you can also learn from them. Combat training that would have normally taken years or a lifetime of practice can be absorbed in a matter of days or weeks."

It took me a moment to process exactly what William had just said. "What do you mean by experiencing the memories of my ancestors?"

"Think of it like a video game," Rebecca said cutting in. "Like virtual reality. In a sense you will be placed in the consciousness of one of your ancestors that was a part of the Assassin Brotherhood. Everything you see and do will be something that has already happened."

"You will see things that may make you uncomfortable," William said to me. "Remember that no matter what happens in there you must just go with it. It is history that has long sense been written. No matter how much you may want to stop or change it, you cannot and to attempt to do so would be foolish to the extreme."

Rebecca rolled her eyes and sighed. "Don't scare her off William," she said. "We don't even know where it's going to send her yet." Turning to me she spoke softly. "It's not a scary as he makes it out to be, I promise."

I looked nervously at the chair and nodded. "Okay," I said. "What do I need to do?"

Rebecca patted the chair. "Just climb in and let us take care of everything." She gave me another warm smile. "You'll be fine. Just roll with everything that happens in the Animus. You don't want to fight it and force a desync. It wouldn't hurt you, but it also wouldn't be pleasant."

I climbed in the chair without a word and lay down, my head resting on the small pad inlaid into the metal headrest. William and Rebecca had moved to the setup on the large folding table. I gave a small thumbs up when asked if I was ready. A glass screen slid from around the headrest and positioned itself in front of my eyes. Lines of coding appeared on it and I closed my eyes preparing myself for whatever was about to happen.

A loud rushing sound filled my mind. It was a minor irritation that only lasted a few seconds, but it was a few seconds too long. What I saw when I opened my eyes startled me slightly. Everything was bright white. Weird looking fragments of something floated through the air. I took a tentative step and even more fragments flew up from where my foot fell. Looking at my arms and hands I noticed that they were not only larger, but rougher looking as well. My body felt heavier, like I had suddenly put on quite a bit of weight and my clothes had changed. I was wearing what looked to be a dark blue military uniform.

"Are you okay?" Rebecca's voice echoed through my head catching me off guard.

"I'm fine," I said and immediately clutched at my throat. My voice was not my own anymore. It was deep and somewhat ragged as if I had been a long-time cigarette smoker. "What the actual fuck!" I exclaimed. "What is wrong with my voice?"

"Nothing is wrong with your voice," Rebecca said, once again her voice echoing through my head causing me to flinch slightly. "Your voice is just not your own anymore. Remember that you are about to experience the memories of you ancestor."

"So, who exactly am I and where am I going?" I asked still kind of freaked out by my voice.

My head was silent for a few moments before Rebecca's voice echoed again. I was wondering what William was doing during all of this. "Elijah Mason," she said. "And you are going to be experiencing his memories from…oh shit," she trailed off leaving me wondering.

"Oh, shit what?" I asked confused.

It was William's harsh voice that echoed next. "January of 1815," he said sounding slightly impatient. You will be experiencing the days leading up to the Battle of New Orleans."

"Why this particular time period?" I asked. My gruff voice sounded slightly nervous at the prospect of experiencing war.

"Because Elijah fought in that particular battle," William said as if it should have been obvious. "You'll soak in every bit of training that he had. And on top of that, the days following the battle was the last time that an Assassin had any interaction with an artifact that has been lost to us since."

"Are you ready to go in?" Rebecca's voice cut into my mind.

I took a deep calming breath and closed my eyes once more. The moment I said yes, I heard and felt the intense rushing in my mind once again.

There was a slight chill in the air. The rain fell hard on my head as I stared at the massive structure that stood about 100 yards in front of me. I knew that it would be foolish of me to attempt to infiltrate it at the present time. Too many people were inside praying for safety. People felt safe in a church, but the Saint Louis Cathedral was anything but safe. The original structure had burned to the ground many years prior and it was in the middle of being rebuilt. Though not complete, Mass was still held here regularly.

The sound of bells echoed throughout the night air as I pulled a hood up over my head to conceal my face. The doors to the church swung open and a large crowd of people poured out, all of them dressed in their best and talking amongst themselves. I didn't know exactly what I was looking for, but I knew that I would feel it when I saw it. The grounds cleared out within a few minutes as people hurried home to escape the weather, but I remained, staring harder and harder hoping to see something or someone that would give me a clue as to what I was looking for. When none came, I ducked down a dark alleyway and used the cover of darkness to make my way back home.

The intense rushing filled my senses once again, only this time it was quite a bit harsher. I found myself once again in the white area. Like last time various fragments hovered around me, but unlike last time I could see outlines of buildings. I looked around wondering if the experience was over.

Rebecca's voice echoed in my head once more causing me to flinch. "How are you holding up?"

"Okay," I said thankful to be back in my own mind even if the voice was not my own. "Is that all?" I was somewhat anxious for this whole experience to be over. I found the whole thing to be weird.

"Not just yet," Rebecca said. "We are skipping ahead a few days in his memory and wanted to give you a proper warning as to what is about to come."

I didn't like the sound of that at all. Why would I need warning to what was coming? The gruff voice quavered slightly as I spoke, "What exactly is next?"

"A battle," Rebecca said grimly. "Remember that you were dropped into your ancestors' memories from the war of 1812. As William said earlier, Elijah took part in the Battle of New Orleans. It was one of the final battles of the war. A bloody affair."

I took a deep breath trying to prepare myself. "Why is it that I have to experience it?"

"Sometime during the course of the day that fight took place on Elijah had some form of interaction with a Piece of Eden," Rebecca said softly. "We believe it to be a staff that has been lost to us ever sense. We need to discover its location so we can recover it."

That made sense. If the Assassins were really the good guys in all of this and the Templars sought to control the population, then devices of that power needed to be kept away from them. I hated the idea of having to experience something as awful as a battlefield in the middle of a war, but if it would help Rebecca than I would do it. "Okay," I said, "I'm ready."

I could feel the now familiar rushing sound approaching. "Just remember," Rebecca said, "that what you are about to see, and feel is not you. Whatever Elijah does is not your doing. It is the past that has already happened, and you are just experiencing it from his viewpoint. Not only are you helping William and I, you are also beginning to absorb his talents and abilities to further your abilities."

A thick fog hung low in the air severely obscuring my vision as I crouched low in a thicket of trees a short way off from the main body of the army. A sharp wind blew in from the river cutting through me. British soldiers were on the march. I knew that the fight was inevitable. I gently ran my fingers along the trigger on my hidden blades. We were going to be massively outnumbered in the fight, but that was not my main focus. I had it on good authority that a high-ranking Templar officer would be commanding the attack, and though I didn't expect him to be in the thick of the combat, I had to believe that I could get to him. He needed to be taken out.

I took off sprinting, doing my best to keep low to the ground and out of sight. Though the main British army was not my main concern, I still wanted to silently take out as many as I could to help out. The fog kept me hidden and with a little luck I managed to get around behind the first wave of approaching troops. My hidden blades made little noise as I extended them. I knew I only had seconds to make my move as the plan flashed through my head one final time.

Years of training and a lifetime of instinct took over as I silently closed the distance between myself and the back row of my targets and wrapped my arms around two of their necks. My blades, which I had just sharpened the night before, sliced into their throats as if I were cutting through butter. Their warm blood spurted onto my hands and sleeves. Before their bodies so much as hit the damp ground I took out two more by jamming my blades into the skulls of the soldiers directly in front of them. Four silent kills. That was all I managed to get as all hell broke loose around me. I quickly retracted the blade on my left arm and managed to draw the sword that was sheathed on my belt. I managed to parry a jab from a bayonet at the last moment as I jabbed the blade on my right wrist into the throat of another solider.

Shouts about an ambush from behind echoed throughout the early morning air, but it was nothing more than white noise to me. Those that were closest to me knew that I was inside their defenses and made no attempt to even try to shoot me. Some had dropped their guns completely and drew swords of their own. I parried and dodged their attempts to end my life dispatching as many as I could. The smell of blood was starting to hang heavy in the air as gunshots rang out in the distance. The American army had heard the shouts and opened fire. I knew that I was at a major risk of being hit by their shots, but I held my ground.

Troops were falling rapidly to my blade, but I was massively outnumbered. Even with my superior training and skills the sheer number of them was weighing on me. A bayonet found its target and I yelled out in pain as it was jammed deep in my left shoulder. As I thrust my hidden blade forward into the man's neck, severing his jugular vein and quickly ending his life a sword came crashing down on my arm. My bracer saved my right hand, but the blade still bit deep enough to leave a sizable gash on my wrist. I grabbed a discarded musket from the ground and jammed the bayonet into the sternum of the man that had just sliced me, pressing it as far into his flesh as my strength would allow me to and driving his lifeless body to the ground.

I was beginning to lose a lot of blood. More gunfire rang out through the air, both near and far. British troops were beginning to return fire on the Americans. I needed to escape. My body wouldn't be able to handle to much more. I dodged a sword slash aimed at my throat and counted by ramming my own sword straight into the man's heart.

I needed to escape. If I stayed in the middle of the fray like I currently was, as outnumbered as I was, I had no chance of surviving. I only hoped that the disarray that I caused among the British troops was enough to give the Americans a fighting chance. I broke away from the infantrymen dispatching a the few that attempted to stop me. It was fortunate that most of the front line was not focused on the American army that was firing at them through the fog. I heard a few cannon blasts sound as I made my retreat towards the river. It was not the best place to be headed as I knew for a fact that the British had several gunships stationed there, but I figured that if a Templar officer was indeed present that whoever it was would be where they felt the safest.

The sun was starting to creep up over the horizon and with it I noticed that the fog was slowly beginning to dissipate. That spelled bad news for me as I was counting on the thickness of it to cover my advancement towards the gunships. I quickly scanned the field for a place to hide myself, but there was nothing. What I did see in the distance caused me to panic. Another battalion of British infantrymen advancing. Their numbers looked to be twice as large as the first wave and it had really hit me just how big of a disadvantage that the American army was at. I wasn't sure that this was a fight they could win.

I hunkered down in some fairly deep grass, hopefully to avoid being seen by the advancing battalion. I drew my pistol from my side and took aim at the approaching troops. I knew I would only have one shot to cause as much panic as I could. The loss of blood was starting to weaken my, but I couldn't let it slow me down. I took aim at one of the soldiers along the left side of the line and fired.

My aim was true as he went down with a loud yell and I leapt up as quickly as my injured body would allow me to and made a dash towards the infantrymen. I was hoping that I could break my way through as they were all that stood in my way of my goal on the river. The battalion was indeed in a slight panic trying to figure out where the shot came from as I charged at them. It wasn't until I was almost on them that they spotted me through the thinning fog. I dropped my pistol as I knew it would be pointless to attempt to reload and drew my sword. Muskets were aimed at me as I continued my charge. Shots rang out and I felt a sharp burning pain along my right arm. A cry of pain escaped my lips as I realized that I had been shot. It wasn't a direct hit though. The musket ball had just winged me, but it was enough to cause even more blood loss.

I screamed as I reached their line and began the tall task of trying to force my way through it. Every movement of my arms, both left and right, was complete agony. I tried my hardest to block it out the intense pain as I shouldered and slashed my way through the line of troops. My one hope was that when I managed to get past them that their orders would be to keep marching forward. If they perused me, I would have no chance of survival.

Luck it seemed was indeed on my side though. I managed to break through the line suffering no more than a few minor cuts, which was a blessing in itself after having been stabbed, slashed, and shot. The river was directly ahead of me and no troops stood in my way. A few of the line that I had broken through turned and fired upon me, but in their rush all of the shots missed wide.

The boat was in my sight. I saw the man I was after. I wasn't sure exactly how I knew it was him, but I could feel it. He was dressed slightly differently from the other British troops. A large golden staff was in one hand and a sword in the other. That staff made me feel uneasy. It was radiating energy and I knew at once that it was of vital importance that I get it away from that man even if it cost me my life.

The boat was anchored about ten feet away from the shoreline. I needed to figure out a way to not only get to it, but to board it unseen. I would prefer to do that without having to actually get in the water. I knew it would be freezing this time of year. I noticed a small line of canoes that floated in front of the gunboats and the plan formed itself in my mind at once.

I sprinted towards the river and at the shore made a large leap onto the first canoe. It rocked silently threatening to flip over, but I never slowed. I leapt to the second and then the third before I jumped up to the side of the gunboat. I hung there, just out of sight of the few people onboard. I was no longer feeling the pain of my wounds. Knowing that my target was right here had my adrenalin pumping to the point that it blocked out the pain.

I risked a peak over the top of the hull and saw that not only was my Templar target aboard the boat, but another man was a well. He was dressed in clergy robes and had his head down solemnly. "How are the American forces holding their line against such overwhelming numbers?" He asked the Templar.

"I do not know Noah," the Templar responded gripping the staff in his hand tighter. "We are going to have to fall back though. Taking the city is looking to be too costly."

"And what of the artifact, James?" The man named Noah asked looking hard at the staff. "You know there is an Assassin on the field of battle somewhere correct?"

"Noah and James," I mouthed silently to myself memorizing the names.

"I have been instructed to leave the staff in your hands Noah," James said while running a finger along the staff in his hand. "And you are to place it somewhere that no member of the Assassins will ever be able to retrieve it from."

"It will be safe," Noah said. "The cathedral will stand forever. A true testament of the power of the Templar's." He turned and I had to quickly duck my head down to avoid being seen. "But what of the Assassin? Are you not worried about him?"

"Not at all," James said turning to face my direction. "Besides, he is no longer a part of the battle down there."

I held my breath and tried to lower myself closer to the water and Noah looked over to James. "How can you be certain?"

"Because," James said smugly, and I started to feel slightly panicked, "he is right here!"

James lifted the staff up high and I felt my entire body seize up. Every single muscle in my body was frozen and if by magic I was floating up and over the hull of the ship. "Piece of shit Assassin," James said holding the staff out in front of him as I floated down to face him. "It's rude to spy on people, you know," he said staring at me with murderous intent in his eyes.

I fought against the paralysis in my body which seemed to only amuse James. "Don't even bother," he said swinging the staff hard at my face.

I felt the bone in my nose break as blood began to put not only down my face, but down my throat as well. If I couldn't free myself there was a very good chance that I could choke to death on my own blood. It was not how I would have chosen to die. James struck me on the side of my head with the staff and I felt the blood pour down my face. He turned away from me and passed the Staff to Noah as my body fell to the deck of the ship. I held my breath and closed my eyes in the hopes that both of them would think me dead.

"Take the Staff," James said to Noah as he glanced down at my seemingly lifeless body. "You know where in the Cathedral to put it. Now go, while I properly dispose of this piece of shit. May the father of understanding guide you."

Noah nodded and with the agility and athleticism of a man half his age, leapt over the side of the ship and dropped down to one of the canoes below. James then returned his attention to me. I felt his boot sink hard into my ribcage, but I refused to let even the slightest sound escape me. I needed him to think that I was already dead. Another kick landed, this time on the side of my face, and I flopped over, still not moving. I felt James grab me by the shirt and lift me up effortlessly and I held my breath and let my head loll to one side.

"Fucking Assassins," he said, and I felt myself flying through the air before landing in the icy cold river.

The world around be split apart, fragments of ship, water, and ground hovered around me as I once again found myself in the white in between area. I felt everything around me fading and a moment later I was once again in the den of what was once my parent's house. "What the fuck," I said, finding myself short on breath, but was ignored.

"We found it!" Rebecca exclaimed in an excited whisper. "The Staff!"

"Not quite," William said quietly as if worried he might be overheard. "If you remember correctly, I had a hunch that it was there the entire time, but I needed confirmation. On top of that, we do not know for certain that it is still there. That was just the last time that any Assassin had an interaction with it."

"Point taken," Rebecca replied as I stood up and walked over to the two of them. I cleared my throat loudly and both Rebecca and William looked at me startled. "Shit," she said softly. "Please forgive me Madison. I got caught up in my excitement. You must have tons of questions."

"Understatement of the year," I said looking at my hands as if I expected to see them covered in blood. "What was that thing?" I asked looking around the room. I felt shaken, disturbed by what I had done. "I killed so many people."

Rebecca shook her head as William stood up and walked out of the den. I took his seat at stared at her. "No," she said firmly. "Please remember that you didn't do anything that you saw. It was nothing more than a simulation. A memory of what your ancestor did in a war over two hundred years ago."

"It felt so real," I said sadly looking at my own hands once again just to confirm that they had no blood on them.

"It was meant to," Rebecca said doing her best to comfort me. "You have helped us out greatly," she continued as William walked back in carrying two cups of tea. "On top of that you are learning the skills that Elijah had. The running and climbing, the ability to move silently, and yes, even the combat practices are all things that are going to become yours."

"I don't want to have to kill anyone," I said taking a small sip of the scalding hot tea in my cup. It soothed my frazzled nerves only slightly.

"And I hope that you never have to," William said. "Nobody wants to take the life of someone else, except the Templars. They want to wipe us off the face of this planet. You saw just a fraction of what a precursor artifact is capable of. At some point we are going to have to make an attempt at taking it, and when that time comes you need the skills to protect yourself, because I can promise you that if a member of the Templar Order catches wind of what we are up to they will try to kill all of us."

"It's true," Rebecca said. "We want to keep you safe, but one of the only ways we can do that is if you know how to handle yourself. That is why I want you to continue in the Animus for a little while."

William looked from Rebecca to me and back. "I need to do a little more research into how we can take the Staff and where it may be hidden if it is indeed still inside the cathedral. So, I will leave you two to continue getting to know one another. Madison, you did well today. I know that Jack and Nora would have been proud of you."

With that he walked out of the den and out the front door. I heard the van's engine turn over as William pulled away. I looked at my hands once more and ran my fingers along my wrists where Elijah had worn his wrist blades. What I had experienced had shaken me to the core, but I just needed to focus on the fact that it was not me that had done those things. I had never killed anyone and hopefully I would never have to.

_Chapter Album:_

_Lita Ford_

_Lita (1988)_


	5. The Birthday

Chapter 5: The Birthday

As the days passed by, I continued to use the Animus on almost a daily basis. I didn't experience another major battle while I dove into the memories of Elijah, but as I expanded my Animus use to experience other ancestors, I found myself in more conflicts. I found it weird that I was beginning to find myself less and less affected by it though. I was finally figuring out, that even though I was experiencing it, that it was not me actually fighting. I noticed that my time in the Animus was changing me as well. I felt stronger and quicker, more agile and faster. It had become fun to just see how much I was able to do now. Between running down the handrail of the staircase without losing my balance to leaping from a thick tree branch to the roof of the house and back before swinging back down to the ground. I had practiced with various weapons as well, from staves and swords, to batons and daggers. In the back of my mind I knew why I was learning to use these weapons and it was not something I looked forward to, but it was fun all the same. For the first time in my life I felt like I had found happiness.

I woke up as the sun was starting to rise on the morning of my birthday. My birthdays in the past had never meant anything to me as they had never been celebrated, so today felt no different to me than any other day. Still, I had officially turned 18. I was legally an adult now.

I called out to Rebecca as I came down the stairs and headed into the kitchen, but she was gone. That was nothing unusual as it seemed more often than not Rebecca was gone when I woke up. All I knew is that she was doing various things for the Brotherhood and that when she came home, she always looked tired.

I set about brewing a pot of coffee and toasting a couple of pieces of bread. That had become my normal breakfast as I was never all that hungry in the morning. As I was sitting at the table finishing off my second piece of toast and contemplating what I wanted to do with the day, I heard a car pulling up the driveway. I threw out the paper towel that I had my toast on and walked out to see if Rebecca needed help with anything.

She had a large bag in her hand and her eyes went wide when she saw me. "Damn it," she said loud enough for me to hear. "I was hoping to get back before you woke up."

I had indeed woken up earlier than I usually did. It surprised even me considering how late I had stayed up the night before, once again reading. I had almost completely finished reading through my parent's old journals. As interesting as they were, it also frightened me slightly to think about them killing people and the fact that I too may have to take a life one day.

"Early morning shopping?" I asked nodding towards the bag that Rebecca carried.

"It was meant to be a surprise," Rebecca said with a sigh as she walked past me and into the house.

I followed her inside and into the kitchen where I poured each of us a cup of coffee. "William is on his way over," Rebecca said as I turned around and set one of the cups in front of her.

"Animus training?" I asked taking a sip out of my cup while Rebecca started to pull something large out of the bag.

"Not exactly," she replied removing a large covered tray from the bag and setting it in front of me.

"Oh," I said staring at the tray. It was all that I could manage to say. Inside, underneath a clear plastic lid was a beautiful cake. Thick white frosting coated the whole thing and candy roses lined roses lined the edge. 'Happy Birthday Madison' had been written in thin, curly, script across the center of the cake. It was one of the most beautiful cakes that I had personally seen that was not on television. Growing up my birthday had never really been celebrated so just having an actual cake meant so much to me. "Thank you," I said to Rebecca for what felt like the millionth time since meeting her and I was sure she was tired of hearing it by this point.

"18," Rebecca said with a smile, "can be a big one. Plus, with all of the work that you have been putting in with the Animus, not to mention just how quickly you have been picking up Elijah's abilities I thought that a little party would be nice."

"A party is completely unnecessary," I responded somewhat embarrassed. "My birthday has never meant much to me honestly."

"It's completely necessary," Rebecca said nudging me in the side. "You've done great work so far and a little celebration will be fun before the hard work begins."

I wasn't exactly sure what the hard work entailed but was confident that I would find out soon enough. I put my earbuds in and set about cleaning up the kitchen a little bit, mainly just washing the few dishes that had piled up while Rebecca started thumbing through something on her phone. I finished up the dishes and moved the cake from the table to the counter just as Rebecca started playing music from her phone to the speaker that we had sitting in the corner.

"Wait here," Rebecca told me as she stood up and walked out of the front door.

A moment later she walked back inside followed by William. They each carried a few boxes in their arms. "Nope," I said standing up and shaking my head at them. "Nope, no gifts." I was terrible at accepting gifts. Probably because growing up I had always been made to feel like I was a burden whenever money had been spent on me.

Rebecca just waved me off and set her parcels on the table. "Everyone should have gifts," she said. "And these in particular are pretty practical more than anything."

"Happy birthday Madison," William said setting a wooden box on the table next to the other packages. He eyed me with the same intense look that I remembered from the first time I met him. "I was pleased to hear how well your training has been going."

"That can wait, William," Rebecca said to him. "We've got a birthday to celebrate." She tapped her phone screen and music started blasting through the speaker once again. Rebecca grabbed the cake and set it in front of me before handing me a knife.

The next two hours passed by rather quickly. Rebecca and I each ate a few pieces of cake, talking animatedly and singing along to the music echoing through the house. William on the other hand sat at the table looking rather impatient, as if he was waiting for Rebecca and me to be finished so he could get down to business. He had always given me the impression that he was a no-nonsense type of person, but the all business feeling seemingly doubled ever since I had experienced the Battle of New Orleans in the Animus.

Rebecca turned the music down and looked from William to me before holding a can of soda up in the air. "Madison," she said rather loudly considering there were only three people including myself in the kitchen and the music had been turned off. "While we have not known each other for very long, I am thrilled to be here to celebrate you turning 18 and look forward to celebrating many more birthdays to come. You've come a long way in a very short time, and I know that I speak for William as well when I say how proud I am. You have become a wonderful friend. Happy birthday!"

"Indeed," William said, slightly tilting his own drink in my direction.

I quickly tried to wipe the tears welling up in my eyes away before either of them could notice. It may have only been the three of us, and William may not have been the most lively of party guests, but it was still the best birthday I had ever had. Rebecca was one of the coolest people that I had ever met, and she had become my best friend.

"Thank you," I said softly looking at each of them.

"Okay, onto the presents!" Rebecca said smiling and grabbing one of the packages and passing it to me.

It was a small box, just slightly larger than my hand, wrapped in purple paper. I immediately felt self-conscious looking down at it. "It's embarrassing," I said keeping my eyes down.

"Oh, just open it," Rebecca said with a slight laugh.

I sighed and gently removed the wrapping paper. A small wooden box with a small metal latch on it sat in front of me. What I saw when I opened it confused me slightly. A small, but thick steel rod laid on top of a small velvet cloth. The first things I noticed as I removed it from the box was that it felt quite a bit heavier than it looked and it fit perfectly in the palm of my hand. "What is it?" I asked looking up at Rebecca.

Rebecca smiled and stood up. "Stand back from the table," she said, "and hold on to that tightly." I did as she said unsure what to actually expect. "Now, squeeze it firmly and don't let it go."

I felt nervous for some reason as I backed away a few feet from the table and gave the device a firm squeeze. I heard it click quietly and yelled in surprise as it extended from both ends. I almost lost my grip on it which would have been a mistake because I was sure that it would have rocketed itself clear across the kitchen.

"Holy shit!" I exclaimed loudly. No longer was it a small hand sized steel pole; instead I now held a five foot long steel staff. A weighted ball bearing was on one side that looked heavy enough to knock someone out with one blow and the other end was a tip so sharp looking that I was certain that it was designed specifically to impale someone. Once upon a time holding something like this, something designed to hurt and maim someone would have frightened me, but my time in the Animus had given me an appreciation of weapons. Still I hoped to not have to actually use them.

"Pretty cool right?" Rebecca said smiling as I gave the staff another squeeze and it retracted in on itself.

"It really is," I said staring at the small staff that once again fit in the palm of my hand. Pocket sized and easily concealable, I thought as I set the staff back in its box and covered it with the velvet cloth. I would be able to carry it anywhere.

The next present from Rebecca yielded me several pairs of black pants and form fitting black shirts. By design the clothing looked to be made for movement. The pants felt rather stretchy and had several pockets along the side of them. I usually preferred baggier and loose fitting clothes, but these did look remarkably comfortable and easy to move in.

"They'll make you harder to see at night," Rebecca said as I walked over to her and hugged her tightly. "You know, if we have any kind of nighttime operations or something."

"Thank you," I whispered as I let go of Rebecca and stepped away.

I looked over to William when I heard him clear his throat. He locked his eyes with mine as he started speaking. "I'm not one for celebration," he said stating the obvious. "But Rebecca insisted on this little party. That doesn't mean that I haven't been keeping up with the progress that you have made though, and I am proud of how far you have come. I do have something for you though." He grabbed the last box on the table and walked over to me. "This belonged to your mother, and I know that she would be proud for you to have it," he said handing me the box.

I took the box and stared at it for a moment, my heart beating ever so slightly faster. Before moving into the house, I had never owned anything that had specifically belonged to my mother. The box had a tiny lock on it and stuck inside that lock was a tiny key. I turned the key and heard a tiny click as the box unlocked and I slowly opened the lid.

I recognized what it was the minute I set eyes on it. It was a hidden blade. I knew that from the days I had spent experiencing Elijah's memories. This one was slightly different though. It wasn't attached to any kind of bracer or wrist guard, rather it was just the blade mechanism with several leather straps riveted to it. A lot less conspicuous considering outside of renaissance festivals no one wore bracers. William helped me strap the blade to my wrist and stood back. I flexed my left wrist a few times and the blade extended and retracted effortlessly, as if it had just been oiled.

I unstrapped the blade from my wrist and placed it gently back in its box before sitting down. William took a seat on the other side of the table and glanced back and forth from Rebecca to me. It seemed that the celebration was over.

"Okay," he said intensely. "Let us get down to business. We now have ample reasons to believe that a Piece of Eden is located in New Orleans. From what we have learned through the memories of Madison's ancestor the last known location of it is believed to be in the Saint Louis Cathedral. That was of course well over a hundred years ago now, so it could very easily have been taken elsewhere, but as of this moment it is our strongest lead."

"So, what is the plan going forward?" Rebecca asked, her tone more serious than I had ever heard before.

"For the moment," William said somewhat quietly, "I want both you and Madison to just hang tight here. I will be going tonight to hopefully try to find out if the staff is even still in New Orleans or if the Templars have moved it in the last hundred years. I need you ready Madison," he went on looking directly at me now. "If the staff is indeed there it is imperative that we get it out of Templar control, and you Madison will be playing a role in that."

"She'll be more than ready," Rebecca said grasping my shoulder and the confidence in her voice made me feel confident myself.

"I'll be off then," William said standing up. "Happy birthday, Madison," he continued, giving me a rare smile. "I'm happy to have you with us and look forward to seeing what you can do. For now, take this time to mentally prepare yourself for what is to come."

I nodded and William walked out leaving Rebecca and I alone once more. She nudged me in the ribs, and I looked up at her. "Excited?" She asked.

"Mmhmm," I said trying to ignore the racing of my heart. "But scared as well."

"I'd be concerned if you weren't scared," Rebecca said. "I still get nervous before a mission. Just know that whatever you have to do, I will be here for you. I've got your back just as I trust you to have mine. We are a team now, you and I."

Witchy's album pick:

Atomic Kitten

Right Now (2000)

Witchy's notes: I am so sorry that it took me this long to get such a short chapter written and posted. Things have been so hectic with me lately between my regular job and my work as a photographer. I find myself with less and less time to focus on writing and when I do find time at night, I am usually too tired to focus. I'll be starting chapter 6 in the next day or so and hopefully I can make some extra time to set aside for working on it, so I am not constantly trying to squeeze in a few paragraphs while I am at work. Just know that I am very much looking forward to the next few chapters where things start getting serious.


	6. Reconnaissance

Chapter 6: Reconnaissance

My hands were raised, guarding my face as I stared into Rebecca's eyes trying to predict her next move. She had a somewhat smug smirk on her face as if she thought she had me exactly where she wanted me. Her left hand twitched towards my chest, but I didn't take the bait. Rebecca swung at my face with her right hand, but I managed to lean away so that her punch only grazed my padded head gear. I followed up with a hard left aimed directly at her jaw, but she managed to catch my wrist before she thrust her elbow directly into my chest. The chest protector absorbed much of the blow, but it was still a hard enough shot to knock some of the air from my lungs.

"Not bad," Rebecca said giving me a playful jab in the arm as she removed her headgear.

We had been at it for the better part of two hours, alternating between hand to hand combat sparing and weapons practice. Both Rebecca and I were drenched in sweat. It was a hot and humid morning. I peeled off my own headgear and chest protection. My hair was plastered to my face and my shirt stuck to my body as if it had been glued to me. I desperately wanted to get back in the air condition and have a cool shower and change clothes.

Two days had passed since my birthday, two days since William had left for New Orleans. In that time, I had seriously stepped up my training. I hadn't used the Animus, but instead put all I had learned to the test. I felt lighter on my feet and stronger than I had ever been before, though Rebecca still bested me usually.

"Break time," I said out of breath as I grabbed the bottle that had my energy drink in it and took a long pull from it.

"Agreed," Rebecca responded, not nearly as winded as I was, but still tired.

Inside the house felt amazing. The cool air circulating was just what I needed after the workout. I selected a fresh set of clothes and peeled my sweaty ones off before stepping into the shower. I never let the water even hint at hot. Goosebumps popped up on my arms and legs as the cold water cascaded over me, washing the smell of sweat and dirt away. I don't think I had ever really appreciated how good something as simple as a shower could feel until I started training. I knew that how water would have been better for the sore muscles but considering how hot it was outside and how hot I felt, the cold water did wonders. I thoroughly scrubbed my hair and continued to let the cold water fall over me for several more minutes before shutting it off and getting out.

I heard Rebecca's voice echoing through the house as I walked down the stairs. It sounded like she was on the phone as hers was the only voice I could hear. "Got it," I heard her say as I walked around the corner and saw her sitting in the den. "Sure thing, we'll be on the road tonight."

"What was that about?" I asked flopping down on one of the loveseats as she hung up the phone.

Rebecca glanced at me with an uncertain expression and I had a feeling that I already knew what was coming. "Pack a bag," she said. "We are headed to New Orleans."

My heart started racing. I knew that going down there was going to mean. It was going to be time to put my training to use and the thought of that frightened me. It had only been two days since William left, but I knew that this call was bound to come. It could only mean that he had discovered something, a clue to the Piece of Eden. "So, has he found it yet?" I asked softly.

Rebecca shook her head. "Not yet, but he does believe that it is indeed still located inside the cathedral and that is where you will come in. He wants to get you inside so that you can hopefully snoop around and find some hint of it."

"And how does he expect me to be able to snoop around?" I asked uncertainly. I had seen photos of the Saint Louis Cathedral, both inside and out. It was a huge place and I was certain that I would not just be able to walk inside and begin snooping around.

"He didn't want to go into specifics, but I am certain that he has something in mind. William wouldn't call us down there without reason," she responded and eyed me softly. "I don't want you to worry too much just yet. I know that you may not entirely trust William completely, and that is understandable because he can come off kind of harsh and is all business. I just want you to remember what I said on your birthday. I am and will always be here for you and will always have your back."

"And I have yours," I said sitting up and doing my best to hide the nervousness that I was feeling. "So, what all do you think I need to bring?"

"Weapons," she said simply, and I felt a lump form in my throat. "Your staff and hidden blade, though I hope you won't need either of them. The new clothes that you got as well will be useful too. I don't know how long we are going to have to be there, so if I were you, I would just pack for a bit of an extended stay. Better to have too much than not enough."

When I mentioned that I didn't own and kind of luggage, Rebecca dashed off to the room that she used and brought out a piece of hers for me to use. Packing did not take me long at all as I still didn't really own all that much. I quickly folded and packed all of the clothing that had been given to me for my birthday along with six other outfits and carefully placed the box with the hidden blade on top of everything. The staff, I removed from its box and slipped it into my pocket.

When I walked back downstairs, I saw the door to Rebecca's room open and I knocked softly before walking in. An open suitcase with half folded clothes tossed in sat on the bed. Rebecca was busy examining something that looked close to my hidden blade, but without the blade. "Taser," she said simply when she saw me looking. "Not lethal, but pretty fuckling strong. It'll put someone down for quite some time."

I was honestly kind of envious of her weapon. Everything I had was designed to end a life and that was a prospect that I was struggling with. Rebecca must have read the confliction on my face because she slipped off the wrist taser and slipped it in her own bag before pulling out a box. "I see the struggle in your eyes," she said opening the box and showing me her own blade. "The taking of a life it never easy. It changes a person."

"Does that mean that you?" I asked, my question trailing off, but Rebecca knew what I meant.

"I have and I expect that at some point I will again," she said somewhat somberly. "And I didn't like doing it any more than you like thinking about it. I have respect for human life though, and that is what makes us human. If we lose that humanity within ourselves than we become no better than the Templars. I will tell you, just like I told a dear friend of mine one time, that killing is never ideal and never easy, but sometimes people have to die for things to change."

What she said made sense to me, though I still didn't like it. Experiencing it in the Animus was one thing as I knew that it was not actually me that was doing anything. Rebecca's words did make me feel better. I took a deep breath and nodded as I walked out of her room leaving her to finish packing while I gathered my thoughts.

I always found it amazing how time could seemingly move at different speeds. Of course, I knew that time passed at the same speed regardless of what was happening, but it amazed me that when you were seriously looking forward to something how it felt like time slowed to a crawl. On the other hand, when it was something that had you feeling nervous or anxious, time seemed to pass by in the blink of an eye. So naturally I found it less than surprising that after what felt like only minutes since I had packed Rebecca was telling me that we needed to get on the road.

Only a sliver of the sun was still visible over the horizon and all thoughts about the night air being cooler faded from my head as soon as I stepped outside. It was still just as hot and muggy as it had been during the middle of the day. I had to shift a few things around in the small trunk of the car to make both Rebecca and I's bags fit and even then, it was snug. A slight breeze was blowing, but it did nothing to alleviate the heat of the evening. Rebecca slid behind the wheel as I closed the trunk. The engine roared to life as I jumped over the door and landed softly in the passenger seat as Rebecca quickly took off. I took a glance back at the house hoping that it would not be too long before I was back. Despite the limited time that I had lived there I felt more at home there than any place I had ever lived before.

A slight feeling of excitement started to take over in place of the nervousness once Rebecca got on the interstate and sped up, flying past the other cars on the road. I had never been out of my state before, so the prospect of now being on the road to some place that I had never been was quite exciting, even if it was for a reason that scared the shit out of me.

"Music is in your hands!" Rebecca yelled over the rush of the wind as she overtook another car and I very much hoped that we didn't pass a cop. The weapons alone that we had in our possession would be more than enough to get us arrested.

I started a playlist that I had put together a few days ago that had originally been intended for workouts and cranked the volume knob on the radio to max. The bass from the music caused every single mirror in the car to vibrate and I worried that I might be close to blowing out the speakers. By the time that only a few songs had played I could tell that the music had done exactly what Rebecca had hoped it would do to me. I felt significantly calmer than I had when we left. The thoughts of the coming job faded to the back of my mind and I was able to just focus on the songs and enjoy the ride. I leaned my seat back as far as it would go and stared up at the sky. The sun had fully set and there was not a single cloud to be seen in the sky. The area we were driving through had a major lack of streetlights which made the stars completely visible. Closing my eyes allowed me to focus only on the sound of the music and Rebecca singing along loudly as we barreled down the interstate faster than we should have been going.

For about two hours the only scenery around that could be seen was lines and lines of trees. I had always talked about the fact that if I were to travel anywhere that I would prefer to do it by car in order to enjoy the sights, but this trip alone was proving that the most of what was seen outside of the major cities was mostly trees and more trees. Rebecca tapped me gently on the shoulder pulling me out of my daze. "You might like this Madison," she said gesturing ahead as I straightened up my seat.

I had seen the New Orleans skyline in photos before of course, but this was my first time seeing it in person. It looked rather beautiful lit up at night. The first thing I noticed was the Superdome. It was one of the oddest shaped buildings that I had ever seen. It looked like a flying saucer that was being lit up by exterior lights that shifted colors every ten or twenty seconds. The odd shape of it just made me like it even more. I had a strong desire to walk around inside of it even though I was not a football fan at all. Directly next to that was the arena that I knew the local basketball team played in. The rest of the buildings all looked rather normal compared to the two sports arenas. Large business complexes stood cramped together in ways that you generally only saw in the downtown area of major cities. I had the feeling that if I spent too much time walking the streets that I might start to feel slightly claustrophobic. I knew that New Orleans also had a street that was pretty much nothing but bars and nightclubs and couldn't help but to wonder if Rebecca was going to take some time down here to check them out. I, of course, wouldn't be able to get into any of them.

"It's kind of beautiful," I said, and Rebecca nodded.

"I've only been here a very few times," she said glancing at her phone, and I could only assume she was checking how far we had left before we had to get off of the interstate. "It is truly unlike any other city that I have visited before though. There is always some kind of festival or celebration going on. I always wanted to check out some of the festivals, but never really got the chance. I don't suppose this trip will afford me the opportunity either. Oh well."

Within a few minutes we were merging into the right-hand lane and pulling off of the interstate. Rebecca kept alternating between glancing at her phone and looking at street signs. Eventually she pulled into a large multi-leveled parking garage. The levels winded in a circular fashion like most parking garages do and she eventually decided on a spot near the very top, which for the most part was empty. We only struggled slightly to extract our luggage from the confines of the small trunk and took an elevator down to the ground level.

The hotel didn't look like much from the outside. I could tell that it was quite old just from the wear and weathering of the bricks. Rebecca pulled out her phone and after a quick call to William to let him know that we had arrived, the two of us walked in. The interior could not have been more different from the exterior. The reception area was well lit by a chandelier that probably cost over a thousand dollars. The walls were covered by intricate wallpaper and lined with beautiful paintings that seemed to show New Orleans in various times and years of its history. A rather large group that had already checked in stood off to one side conversing rather loudly amongst themselves about how excited they were to be on vacation. Rebecca gestured to a group of five plush armchairs and we walked over and sat down to, I could only assume, wait for William.

He stepped out of an elevator a few minutes later and walked over greeting us in his usual no nonsense unsmiling way. He as usual wore slacks and a button down shirt with no tie and a sports coat over it. I pretty underdressed in my slightly ripped jeans, black tee shirt, and converse shoes, but I didn't really care. This was how I always dressed and the fancy looking workers of the hotel would just have to accept that. "Your room is right next to mine," he said glancing at the check in desk indicating that we should follow him over. "I assume that neither of you have an issue sharing a room."

"Of course not," I said glancing at Rebecca and bumping her shoulder with my own. "We are living together for the time being after all."

It only took us a minute or two to get checked in as the room had already been paid for. The man at the desk handed Rebecca and I each a room key that looked like a credit card and told us that the room was on the 12th floor. William told us that he would meet us in the hotel restaurant and bar in 15 minutes. Long enough for us to find the room and drop off our luggage.

The room was beautiful. A couple of paintings hung on the wall, the same type that could be seen in the check in area. A large flat screen television had been mounted to one wall and two plush full size beds were stationed against the opposite wall. They held six pillows each. A large dresser was underneath the TV and a small closet was located near the door. It wasn't really big, but still large enough to hang up any clothes that might have needed it. The bathroom on the other hand was huge for a hotel room. Two sinks were below two large ornate mirrors and a walk-in shower sat to one side while a claw footed bathtub sat on the other side. It was nicer than my own bathroom at home.

Rebecca walked over the window and drew the curtains aside and motioned for me to join her. She pointed to a large structure in the near distance. It looked slightly different than it did from my time in the Animus, but I recognized it at once. The Saint Louis Cathedral. If we were staying this close to it, then William had to believe that the Piece of Eden was still located inside of it. The window gave me a great view overlooking a good chunk of the downtown area. Groups of people were walking the street all talking and laughing, drinks in their hands. It was not something I was used to seeing, especially at night, but I guess things were vastly different in a major city.

I felt out of my element, and I could only assume that Rebecca did as well, when the two of us walked into the restaurant in the hotel. Most of the men were wearing suits while a majority of the women had on long dresses. As we walked through to the table that William was at a few of them spared us glances that said we didn't look like we belonged. I had to fight back the urge to tell off one man that made an underhanded comment about how I apparently looked like I had just been picked up off of the street. I sat down at one side of the square table and Rebecca took the chair on the opposite side of me. William was sitting between us. Two glasses of red wine had been placed in the center and a glass of amber colored liquid was in front of William. Rebecca immediately took one of the wine glasses and sipped from it while I eyed the second one with confusion.

"Drink," William said, sliding the remaining crystal glass over to me as a rare smile pulled at the corner of his mouth.

I picked up the delicate glass and took a small sip of the dark red liquid within. It was rather dry tasting, but still absolutely delicious. I was no stranger to drinking of course, having constantly snuck beers out of the fridge of whatever group home I happened to be living in at the time or my petty theft of cheap liquor from various gas stations. This was the first time that alcohol had been openly offered to me by an adult though, and something about that had made me uneasy. I took another sip and simply savored the liquid as it ran down my throat as a waiter sat three menus on the table.

"Down to business," William said as he glanced down at the menu in front of him for a moment as I picked mine up and flipped it open, I could already tell that this was not going to be a social meal.

It was weird. When I had first walked into the restaurant, I had felt famished from the trip down, but now that William was ready to start talking about whatever he needed Rebecca and I to do, my appetite had magically vanished.

My face must have betrayed me because a moment later Rebecca placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder and smiled. "You'll be fine," she said softly, but with a certain firmness in her voice that told me that she believed in my ability no matter what the mission might be.

Her words must have bolstered my confidence because without knowing I was even doing it, I smiled and nodded before turning my attention to William. "What I am going to ask you to do," William said, his voice all business, "is simple to start with. It is nothing more than a recon mission. I won't dare to say that it will not be dangerous at all, because of course that cathedral is a Templar lair."

He was talking so low that I had to strain to hear everything that William was saying. I could only assume that he was doing so in order to avoid being overheard. The waiter walked back, and William shut his mouth instantaneously. Still not feeling hungry at all, I simply ordered a salad while William and Rebecca both ordered steaks. None of us spoke again until the food arrived almost a half an hour later.

I dumped what must have been an unhealthy amount of ranch dressing on my salad while both Rebecca and William wasted no time in cutting into their respective steaks. They did look good, but my stomach still felt as if it was tied in knots. "I've been doing recon myself," William said in between bites and once again both Rebecca and I had to strain to hear him. "I fear that who I am has been discovered though, which will put them on high alert, so I am going to need both of you."

"What's the plan?" Rebecca mumbled through a mouthful of steak.

"Simple and fairly straightforward," William replied as I speared some more of my salad on a fork and shoved it in my mouth. "Since I am almost one hundred percent positive that my cover has been blown, I want to send Madison in…tomorrow night. They will be having a church service late tomorrow night. Madison, I need you inside of the cathedral."

"What do you need me to do?" I asked, keeping my voice as level as I could manage.

"Just poke around and avoid being noticed as best you can," William replied, taking a sip of his whiskey. "Anything suspicious. We are really looking for any place that would lead to an underground area. If they have the staff, it'll probably be in a crypt or tomb of sorts."

"And what if I get busted?"

"Lie," Rebecca said simply. "Tell them you are new and were just looking for the bathroom or something.

"They don't know your face," William said slyly, "so you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Rebecca and I will be in constant contact with you as well."

I didn't have much that I could think to say, so I just nodded and slowly finished my salad while William ordered another whiskey for himself and more wine for Rebecca and me. If it was something that would lead to an underground area that I was meant to find, I could only assume that it would not be something so simple as a normal door. I had a feeling that it would be hidden and hidden quite well if William had not found anything.

Desert came soon enough and after the second glass of wine that I consumed, I felt quite relaxed. Conversation had shifted from the upcoming mission to casual small talk which I had not expected. After a third glass of wine my head had started to swim, and I started feeling something unexpected. I was less nervous about what was coming and more excited. I had trained for this and though it may have partially been the wine making me feel like this, I felt confident that I was going to succeed.

Rebecca must have sensed the change in my demeanor, because she suddenly smiled warmly at me. "You got this," she whispered loud enough that only I could hear.

A few minutes later the three of us stood up from the table and William dropped some cash down and out we walked. "I've taken the liberty to have something delivered to your room," William said looking at me and I could tell from the slight red tint to his cheeks that he was feeling pretty good after the whiskey.

"What is it?" I asked, walking behind Rebecca to the elevator.

"Just a little something that you'll need for tomorrow night," William responded, stepping into the elevator.

A few minutes later, Rebecca slid the credit card looking key into the door to their room and it unlocked with a click. Waiting for me sitting on one of the beds was a long black clothing bag and a shoe box. Rebecca stood back with a small smile on her face as I walked over and unzipped the bag.

"Fuck no," I said, looking down in horror at the pale blue dress that waited for me in the bag while Rebecca laughed louder than I ever remember hearing her laugh. Clearly, she knew what was in there already.

"Let's have a look now," she said, trying to hold in more laughter as I held the dress up in disgust.

It was long sleeved and almost floor length, one of the worst things I had ever seen. I had never even worn a dress once, much less owned one and was now apparently expected to wear one tomorrow night. I dropped the dress back onto my bed and opened the shoebox. They weren't nearly as bad, but still as far away from my style as it were possible to get. They were simple black flats that felt light weight but looked uncomfortable. "I'm going to look like some crazed bible thumper," I said with a groan as I dropped the shoes back into the box and flopped down onto the bed.

Still laughing softly, Rebecca walked over and sat down on the bed next to me. "Well you are going to church," she said lightly, and I once again let out a small groan no longer excited at all for what was to come.

I awoke early the next morning as the sunlight poured in through the window. It felt like I hadn't slept at all. I remembered watching some bad movie late into the night with Rebecca as she tried to take my mind off of what was to come. Rebecca was already awake and dressed, sitting in one of the chairs by the window, her eyes locked onto the television where the morning news was playing. "Morning," she said cheerily while pouring a cup of coffee from the miniature coffee pot and handing it to me.

I took the cup and sipped the scalding liquid with a grimace. "I know," Rebecca said upon seeing my reaction. "The coffee is terrible. Not to worry though, we'll go get a better cup soon. William is still in bed. He was up late making the final preparations for tonight."

"So, what are the plans until tonight?" I asked, taking another sip of coffee and sitting down the chair next to Rebecca.

"Nothing really," Rebecca said. "Maybe take in the sights since you've never been here. Try to keep your mind calm until it's time."

The day seemed to pass by in a flash, as if someone had pressed a fast forward button on time itself. Rebecca took me to what seemed to be some of the most popular tourist spots around the city. We had lunch at a tiny hole in the wall burger joint and it was one of the best burgers that I had ever had. Shopping was an adventure in of itself. Having never been to New Orleans, I found myself amazed at some of the things that were being sold. Rebecca's plan must have worked because by early afternoon I was not even thinking about tonight. Though as all good things must eventually do, it came to an end and after a light dinner as the sun was setting, it was time to head back to the hotel and get ready.

"Cutting it a little close aren't we Rebecca?" William asked as I walked into the hotel lobby behind Rebecca to see William waiting on us.

"Oh, we have plenty of time," Rebecca said to William before turning to me. "Time to get ready."

I nodded and walked past them to the elevator without saying a word. My heart was starting to race. Up in the room I took a quick shower before pulling on the dress. I gave myself a quick once over in the mirror and sighed. I looked and felt ridiculous. Hearing the lock in the door click, I turned to see Rebecca walking in.

She took one look at me and smiled. "Well, you do look quite stunning," she said. "But dresses really are not your thing. Good thing it's probably only tonight that you'll have to wear it."

"Hopefully," I replied, forcing a smile and walking over to Rebecca who was waving me over.

She had the ornate wooden box in her hands and motioned to my arms. "Sleeves up," she said gently, and I complied. Within seconds the hidden blade was strapped to my arm. "You won't need that," she said, motioning to the blade as I flexed my wrist to extend and retract the weapon, "but better to be prepared all the same. Now shoes." I slipped the shoes on and noticed a small, near invisible slit near the toes. "Knock your heels together." I did so and gasped as two razor sharp blades extended. One from each shoe. "Good," Rebecca said as the shoe blades retracted with another click of my heels. "And now for the final piece." She reached into her pocked and pulled out a tiny earpiece and handed it to me. "William and I will both have one as well. It will keep us in constant contact with you. Try not to talk to us too much, especially if you are around other people."

Now that the time had come, my voice seemed to have started to fail me. All I could manage was a weak intake of breath and a nod of my head as I walked out of the door.

The nervousness must have shown on every inch of by body because as soon as stepped into the elevator, Rebecca pulled me into a gentile embrace. "You've got this," she said. "I know it's nerve wracking, but just know that I believe in you."

Her words really did make me feel better and slightly more confident as the elevator door opened and I stuck the earpiece in my left ear. William was still waiting in the lobby and nodded when he saw me. I could see from the doors leading outside that the sun had completely set and the three of us set off into the night air.

It was a mild, but humid night. I could not see a single cloud in the sky, yet very few stars were visible, and I blamed that on the city lights. The streets were packed with people and even I, who had never been here before, could tell pretty easily who were local and who were tourists. Groups of people were talking loudly and sipping drinks and most stared as I passed by. I couldn't really blame them. I know that I looked a little out of place compared to my two companions, especially Rebecca, who like most of the time looked like she was ready for a metal concert.

Outside of the church I noticed that most of the people around were dressed similar to me. People in dresses and suits. Most of them looked a fair bit more comfortable than I felt. "Ready?" William asked me quietly and I heard his voice clearly in my earpiece. I nodded and both he and Rebecca wished me luck as I set off towards the crowd while they walked in the opposite direction.

Only a few people in the groups spared me a second glance as I made my way through them towards the doors that would take me inside. I could only guess that the ones that took notice of me were church regulars and not used to seeing new people. A middle-aged man in traditional catholic robes waited to greet me by the doors that stood open welcoming me inside. "Good evening," the man said by way of greeting me with a toothy smile. "I can't remember ever seeing you here before."

"Oh," I said, by way of a reply, doing my best to keep my voice level. "I'm…from out of state actually. Down for a little vacation. It's my first time in New Orleans."

The man smiled at me once more. There was something about his smile that made me feel quite uneasy. "Well, allow me to welcome you," he said softly, and I couldn't quite tell if he had a hint of suspicion in his voice. "I do hope that you find our fine city enjoyable."

I nodded my head in thanks and walked inside.

What I saw inside nearly took my breath away. Coming from someone who had never been to church before that I could remember, I could say that the interior was absolutely stunning. The floors were polished to the point that I could easily make out my own reflection in them. Rows and rows of pews were lined on either side of an aisle. Ornate columns on the outside of the pews, the walls and ceiling painted a beautiful shade of white with gold trim. Balconies lined with numerous flags stood over each side of the church and I couldn't help but to think that I needed to try to find access to those areas. At the end of the aisle stood a grand alter and what must have been the most enormous organ that I have ever seen. Several groups of people were already inside, some of them finding seats together.

I slipped through an empty row of pews and underneath one of the balconies, pretending to study one of the many stained glass windows while I looked around for a door that looked like it may lead somewhere. I saw a simple looking wooden door with a few people standing near it talking. My only assumption was that it led to a stairway that would take me to the balcony. It was way too exposed to lead to anywhere that was meant to be kept secret. If I could only manage to get upstairs, I felt like I would have a fairly unobscured view of everything inside. A plan began to form in my head, but I would need to be quick, quiet, and pretty damn lucky. I just needed to wait for more people to make their way inside.

It was only a few minutes before the church began to fill up and I saw my chance to make my move. It looked like at least two to three hundred people had squeezed inside and the priest who had greeted me at the entrance was busy talking to people. I quickly and quietly slid over to the wooden door and grasped the handle, hoping against hope that it would be unlocked.

Luck was on my side as it would turn out. The handle on the door turned smoothly and with a click that I know would not be heard over the loud chatter of the crowds, the door opened. I pushed it open just enough to slide myself inside and silently closed it behind me. I only hoped that no one had seen me slip in. I had been right in my assumption that it was a stairway. The staircase looked to be in fairly rough shape. It looked half dry rotted and I had doubts that it would even support my weight, but I had made it in so all I could do was to try.

I took a tentative step onto the first of the stairs and winced at the sound of a loud creak. I was not surprised by the sound but hoped that the sound would not carry through the doorway and give me away. Trying my best to be as light footed and as quick as I could be, I continued up the stairs, doing my best to stay on my tip toes. Each step led to another fairly loud creaking sound and I thought for sure that there was no way that the sound was going to go unheard.

At the top of the stairs I came to another door and slipped through it much the same way as I did the one at the bottom. The balcony that I emerged onto was quite beautiful. The plush carpet that I had stepped on gave me the strong desire to just take my shoes off. Taking a quick glance around I noticed that I would not be nearly as concealed as I originally thought that I would be. In fact, if anyone happed to glance up, the odds were really good that they would spot me right away. I wanted to be able to stay up here and observe the entire service, but it looked like all I was going to be able to manage would be a quick scan of the area. Walking across the carpeted floor, I glanced down at the first floor. Everyone down there seemed to be too caught up in their conversations to notice me above them. I couldn't see anything that seemed out of the ordinary, not that I knew what would be out of the ordinary in a catholic church, but what I did see seemed quite normal…except for one thing. I saw a small fringed rug sitting in front of the gigantic organ at the very far end of the church. On top of that rug sat a large plush looking bench. That bench was not what caught my attention though. It was the fringes on the rug. They seemed to be moving upward ever so slightly, as if a draft was coming from underneath the floor directly under it. If anyone else saw it, they most likely would have assumed it was nothing more than the air conditioning blowing it, but it seemed off to me, almost as if there possibly could be a door on the floor.

I pressed the earpiece a little deeper into my ear and flattened my hair to ensure it was covered. "Rebecca?" I whispered as quietly as I could manage. "Rebecca, can you hear me?"

"Madison," I heard from within my earpiece, and the voice seemed to resonate inside my head. "I gotcha loud and clear girl. You made it inside okay, I assume?"

"Yeah, I'm in," I said, still careful to keep my voice at a whisper despite the noisy people below me. "I snuck up to the second floor."

"The second floor?" This time it was William's voice that echoed inside my head. "How in the hell did you manage that one?"

"Oh, come on William," Rebecca said sounding proud of me. "You saw the crowds. There has to be a few hundred people in there. I'm not surprised that she is able to sneak around."

"Yeah, but…"

"Guys," I said a little louder than I intended with some urgency in my voice. "Probably not that important how I did it."

"You're right," William said. "Of course, you're right. Have you found anything yet?"

"Maybe," I said, lowering my voice once more," but I am not entirely sure. It's hardly noticeable."

"Hardly noticeable is good." It was Rebecca talking now. "Whatever they are hiding, it will be hardly noticeable to most people. But we are honestly not most people."

"Rebecca is right," William said. "You can tell us all about it when you get out."

"Got it," I said, hoping that what I saw wasn't just my eyes playing tricks on me.

I began to slowly and quietly make my way back down the rotting staircase, doing my best to keep my footsteps light and the creaking to a minimum. It sounded like some of the talking had started to die down, so I could only assume that the service was close to starting. I eased open the door with the intention of slipping out as quietly as I had slipped in, but suddenly the door was pulled open and the knob slipped from my hand. A small gasp escaped my lips as I saw the same priest that had welcomed me inside the church staring intently at me…and he did not look one bit happy.

"What exactly do you think you are doing Miss…" he trailed off and I could detect a faint French accent in his voice that I had not noticed before.

"Moss," I said pulling a name out of my head. "Sasha Moss." I was using a name from a book I had read a little over a year ago. I didn't know why I chose that name of all things, other than at that moment it was the only one that popped into my head. "I was, um, looking for the bathroom."

"Is that right?" He said and I could hear the suspicion in his voice. "You know, Miss Moss, I've been standing here for a few minutes now and I didn't see you go upstairs."

"Well, when I got up there and didn't see a bathroom, I just took a few minutes to admire the view from above. This really is a beautiful place."

"Hmmm," the priest said quietly, and I could tell that he wasn't buying anything I was saying. "Where did you say you came from, Miss Moss?"

"I didn't actually, but if you are curious, I am from Tennessee."

"Visiting by yourself, are you?" He asked me and I could hear him growing less patient by the second.

"As a matter of fact, I am," I said, and it just occurred to me that Rebecca and William likely could hear every word of this conversation. "Graduated high school this year and thought that I would treat myself to a little vacation to celebrate. And as I said before, I've never been to New Orleans"

"Very well," he said somewhat coldly. "If it really was a bathroom that you were seeking, it is on the other side of the cathedral, towards the back. The sign is actually quite visible." Turning on his heel, the priest turned his back to me and marched towards the far end of the church where three other people in similar robes stood waiting for him.

Rebecca's voice filled my head quite suddenly, startling me. "That was…tense, to say the least."

"No kidding," I said. "I don't think I can get away with leaving yet, so I'll try to sneak out in the middle of the service."

"Good idea," Rebecca said.

I made my way over to the bathroom and stepped inside for a few minutes. I didn't actually have to pee, but after the remarks I had just made to the priest about looking for one, it would have been suspicious not to go in. Afterwards I took a seat in the pew in the final row. Only two other people were sitting in it, an older couple who smiled at me as I sat down. The priest started rambling on about uncertain times and several times we were asked to stand up and kneel down and stand back up. It seemed that one could get a decent workout just from attending church. About 35 minutes or so into the service, when almost everyone's eyes were closed and reciting a prayer out loud, I took my opportunity to slip out the door and back into the night air, confident that no one had noticed me leave. Outside I caught sight of Rebecca and William standing off in the shadows and made my way over to them as fast as I could move in this damn uncomfortable dress.

Rebecca greeted me with a tight hug while William simply placed a firm hand on my shoulder. "Good job," he said. "We'll all talk back at the hotel."

**Witchy's notes:**

Well, this one was a long time coming. I know in past chapters I had put whatever music or album I was listening to as I wrote, but this time I want to say how sorry I am about the long long break in between the last chapter and this chapter. So much has happened. The pandemic of course, I contracted Covid-19 and that was a fight I was not expecting, getting laid off from one of my jobs and furloughed from my other for almost 5 months sent me into a deep depression. I had honestly lost all passion for everything up until I found the motivation to start writing again only three or so days ago and I typed like a madman to finish this chapter. So to those of you who are reading, just know how sorry I am for the months long delay and how much I love all of you. This story is rapidly coming to its conclusion, and I couldn't be happier at how it is coming along. I'll be starting chapter 7 in the next day or so and hope to have it finished in about a week. I'll be writing as much as I am able to get away with at work and more so outside of work. So until then, look forward to The Infiltration.


	7. The Infiltration

**Chapter 7: The Infiltration**

The next couple of days passed by in a flash. The three of us stayed in the hotel for the most part with the exception of leaving for food, except for Rebecca who booked a guided tour of the St. Louis Cathedral with one thought in mind. She managed to place a bug on the alter and it was linked to her laptop. It allowed any of us to hear any conversation that was going on near the alter. William had hopes that it would yield something of use, some hint that would tell us if there really was a trap door as I suspected. It was in front of that laptop that I found myself late Monday afternoon.

I had a pair of external speakers hooked up to the computer to better hear anything that came out of it. At the moment though, I was hearing nothing but a little white noise. It had been the same for the past two days, taking shifts listening for anything and mostly hearing nothing other than snippets of normal conversation. We were all starting to tire of it but had decided not to move until we heard something decisive.

I snapped back to attention as I heard loud footsteps coming from the speakers. I had been staring out of the window at the crowds of people walking the streets below, many with drinks in their hands or clutching bags from the many tourist shops around. "Any sign of the Assassin?" A voice said and I recognized it at once as the priest who had questioned me and led the service during my recon mission.

"None, I'm afraid, Lewis," came another voice. "Not that I am all that surprised. You know their kind are masters of hiding."

"What about the girl? You know the one whom I refer to," Lewis said. "The one that I caught coming down from the balcony. I know she is with them. I know she was lying to me!"

"Are you really so certain, Lewis?" The second man spoke, yet his voice sounded distant as if he had walked away from the alter. I grabbed my phone and fired off a quick text to Rebecca who had gone out to pick up dinner and William who was back in his own room. "The way you made it sounded, she was nothing more than a girl fresh out of school."

A loud bang from the speaker echoed throughout the hotel room and I could only guess that this Lewis had slammed his fist on something hard. It must have hurt his hand. "Don't be so fucking dense, Brandon!" He shouted. "You've been in the know long enough to know by now that these bastards are born into that life! For all I know…"

The hotel room door opened fast and I jumped up with my fists clenched startled, but it was only William. He looked slightly out of breath, as if he couldn't bother to wait for the elevator and took the stairs at a dead sprint. "Anything useful?" He asked, pulling up the chair next to me and sitting down.

"Mostly arguing back and forth," I said taking a sip of water. "Your name was mentioned once, and it would seem I made an impression as a liar."

I thought I may have heard a soft chuckle from William, but he laughed so infrequently that I couldn't be sure. "So, they did indeed recognize me," he said softly. "And they already suspect you. This could complicate things a bit. I had hoped that by sending you in, it would give us an element of surprise. Those bastards are smart though."

"What are we going…" I started to ask something, but William cut me off with a wave of his hand.

Lewis's voice came through the speaker louder than ever. "I want guards here every night going forward Brandon! No one who even looks at this place funny gets anywhere near here, am I clear?"

"Crystal, sir," Brandon said.

"One more thing," Lewis went on, his voice full of vitriol, "if you even so much as catch sight of William or that other bitch, bring me their corpses…" He trailed off now sounding like he was speaking more to himself than his accomplice. "My family has guarded this artifact since before the War of 1812…and I will be damned if I lose it to those fucking Assassin's now!"

"Do you think we should move it?" Brandon asked Lewis quietly.

Laughter came through the speaker just as the door to the room opened once more and Rebecca walked in carrying two large paper bags. The scent that wafted into the room smelled delicious. "No need, Brandon," Lewis said as if the very thought of it was amusing. "It has rested in the same place since the great fire here. It is too well guarded. No one has a chance of getting it."

William closed the laptop with a little more force than seemed necessary. He had a smug smile on his face, one that I had never seen from him before. "It's as good as ours," he said quietly as he stood up from the chair.

Rebecca opened one of the paper bags and started pulling out styrofoam containers of food and set them on top of the dresser. "Good news?" She asked as she opened one of the containers and checked the contents of it. It smelled delicious.

"Oh yes," William said, grabbing a container and a pair of chopsticks before returning to the chair. "We know for certain that the artifact is here and based on what Madison and you both observed inside the church, we have a very good idea on where it actually is as well. Still, it doesn't make this any less complicated."

"It's always going to be complicated, William," Rebecca responded while I grabbed a container of my own and almost started salivating at the sight of the sushi inside of it. I was starving. I sat back down and dug in, content to just listen to what Rebecca and William would have to say. "How complicated are we talking about anyway?"

I glanced back and forth from Rebecca to William and back as I shoved a piece of sushi in my mouth. "I'm going to guess that Rebecca will have to go in for the artifact," I said though my words were muffled through a mouth full of food. "Since they basically have a kill on sight order for William and I."

I didn't like the idea of Rebecca having to try to retrieve the artifact on her own, but we could see no way around it. A plan started to come together as we all sat their eating. And the more we talked and planned, the more nervous I started to feel. I knew that I was going to be in for a fight, and not the normal kind of scraps that I had gotten in more times than I cared to count growing up, but a real fight. Potentially a fight to the death. The thought that I may actually have to take a life frightened me, but William had pointed out that it was a very real possibility that it could come down to their life or mine and that I must be prepared to do whatever was necessary to survive. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't scared shitless about what was coming, but I also felt something else as we continued to talk and plan. I felt anxious and excited. I was ready. Ready to do my part to take the artifact. It would have to wait thought, for now.

Some of how I was feeling must have been visible on my face because Rebecca placed a hand on my shoulder and spoke directly to me. "You look ready to go right this instant," she said. "But it would be too risky to try anything tonight, just based on what you and William heard. The Templars are on the highest of alert right now. And though I don't think it'll die down anytime soon, we should at least wait for a couple of days before we move."

I knew that she was right. It wasn't just the prospect of retrieving an artifact from an ancient civilization that had me ready to go, it was something else as well. I was enjoying my time in New Orleans, I really was, but I missed my house. Though I had only stayed in it for a short period of time, it had started to feel more like a home than any place I had ever lived. I honestly missed my bed and my yard. I missed my giant shower and training in the outside sun. I was ready to be home again. I floated the idea in my head of a night out on the town with Rebecca when we got back but thought better than to voice it. I had to stay in the present. I had to keep my mind of the mission. I had to focus on not getting killed. Everything else could wait.

If I thought the time leading up to my recon attempt flew by, the complete opposite seemed to be true for the time we spent finalizing the plans to steal the artifact. Hours seemed to feel like entire days and days felt like weeks. We took turns in shifts watching the cathedral, looking for any sign of anything unusual. I had taken the early morning, Rebecca the afternoon and evening, and William kept a close watch overnight. He wasn't convinced that they wouldn't try to move the artifact and assumed that if they did it would be late into the night and he would be ready should they do it. We never seemed to see anyone standing guard outside and the bug that Rebecca had placed had mysteriously gone silent so I could only assume that it had been found and destroyed. It was bound to happen at some point.

I was towards the end of my fourth shift watching the front of the church when I finally saw something out of place. Four men in business suits walked out of the church and I adjusted my position on a tree limb a good 40 feet in the air to get a better look. Seeing people in suits was nothing unusual, but these four in particular happened to be carrying weapons. They looked like steel batons, but the tips did not look blunt at all. The points glinted in the morning sun and they looked sharp enough to run me through with very little effort. That Lewis person wasn't kidding about wanting us dead. I strained to hear what they four were talking about, but only caught snippets and certain words. I heard something about a staff and a waste of time. The words "impenetrable" floated up to me and I knew that I had just witnessed what we had been looking for.

The group stopped directly under my tree and I did my best to conceal myself in the leaves. I smelled smoke and assumed at least one of them lit up a cigarette. "This is starting to feel pointless," one of the men said. His voice was rough, and I knew that he was one of the smokers. "How do we know that the Assassin is even still in the city?"

"Oh, come on man," another younger sounding man said. "You know as well as I do that they are probably just buying time. Now hurry up and finish smoking. I'm starving."

The men continued to go back and forth for a couple of minutes before one of them smacked the tree with his baton, cursing and walked away. I never took my eyes off of them as they retreated back inside the church and only when the doors closed did I exhale. They all looked pretty tough and I had doubts in my ability to take any of them in a fight. I flexed my wrist, causing my hidden blade to extend and retract. I knew I could have easily gotten the jump on them while they were outside, but I knew that as soon as I would have dispatched one of them my life would be taken by the other three.

"Did you catch any of that?" I asked into the earpiece that let me talk to Rebecca.

"Bits and pieces," Rebecca responded to me. I was guessing that William was still sleeping after being out here all night. "Come on back to the hotel, I honestly don't think that we'll get anything more and it for sure sounds like the artifact is not going to be moved."

"Got it," I said and began my decent down the tree, hopping from limb to limb until I was finally low enough that I leapt down. Once upon a time I never would have wanted to jump down like I just did, but my training took over and I went into a roll just before my feet touched the ground. A child tugged on his mother's shirt and pointed to me, but by the time she turned to look, I had already ducked away.

I did my best to blend in with the crowds in the street as I made my way back to the hotel, just in case someone was trying to tail me. No one paid me much attention as I gently shouldered my way past people as most of them were too preoccupied with their own business or deep in conversation with others.

It only took me a few minutes to make my way back to the hotel. Rebecca was waiting for me in the lobby with a couple of soda's in her hand. William met us in the room a couple of hours later and discussion started on ways to take the staff. It was going to be a fairly straightforward plan. William and I would attempt to infiltrate the church and draw the attention of the guards, hopefully leading them outside. Rebecca would then attempt to sneak through the fight that would inevitably be happening to find the entrance to the underground, which we were all now thoroughly convinced was hidden behind the alter. The plan was to move tomorrow night, so hopefully I as well as the other two could be fully rested.

I must have been delusional if I had thought I was going to get anything resembling a restful night's sleep. I put on a movie that night and attempted to fall asleep to it, but my mind would not shut down. The bed felt stiff and uncomfortable, and no position that I put my body in felt natural. I thought that I was prepared for it, but now that it was the last night, I was questioning whether any of my training was going to pay off. I cat napped on and off, falling asleep for maybe ten to twenty minutes at a time before jerking awake. I remember checking my phone and seeing that it was after three in the morning. I must have fallen asleep sometime after that, but it was anything but restful. Horrible dreams haunted me throughout the early morning hours. I saw Rebecca laying on the ground bleeding out, William in agonizing pain, fighting to even stay alive. I felt myself getting stabbed and falling to the ground.

I awoke in a cold sweat, trembling, and Rebecca standing over me, a concerned look on her face. "You okay, girl?" she asked, sitting down on the foot of the bed.

My response was muffled as I stifled a deep yawn. "Fine," I said sleepily. "Just didn't sleep well."

"I could tell," Rebecca said, standing up and walking over to the dresser. "You talk in your sleep. Have some coffee." She grabbed the small pot off of the burner and poured us each a cup.

I threw the sheet off of me, embarrassed that Rebecca had heard my sleep talk. Hopping out of bed, I gratefully took the cup and sipped the bitter, scalding liquid. The coffee was still not good, but I had somewhat grown accustomed to it as we were all trying to avoid as much public exposure as possible.

"We're going to be fine," Rebecca said as I sat down by the window and looked outside. I guessed that she must have known what my nightmares were about based on my talking. "Sure, it's dangerous, but I'm not worried. Know why?"

"Why?" I asked through another sip of coffee.

"Because you've got my back," she said smiling and I blushed remembering a conversation we had back at my house before coming here. "Just like I've got yours."

Her words brought me comfort and I held onto them for the entire day leading up to the night. William came to the room later that morning but did not stay long at all. He was all business. Checking and double checking that everyone knew their respective assignments. He returned to his room and none of us saw him again until that night.

The day flew by and nightfall came much quicker than I anticipated. Rebecca kept me in calm spirits throughout the day. She told me about others in the Brotherhood and other fights for the Pieces of Eden and how more often than not they were successful. By the time that her and I had gotten dressed my demeanor had changed again. Adrenaline coursed through my body as I looked at myself in the mirror. A black, form fitting shirt that shaped to my body perfectly, black jeans, and my black boots. A small sling bag held my hidden blade and a steel extendable baton, not the deadly sharp ended ones that I witnessed the Templar's with, but one meant for simply knocking someone out. If I needed more than that, I would have my hidden blade, but I hoped beyond anything that I wouldn't need to use it. Rebecca was dressed very much the same, the difference being her trademark beanie. She wore it pretty much everywhere she went.

Rebecca had told me that they didn't regularly dress in all black like this but being that this was being done at night in a city, they wanted to stick to the shadows as much as possible and hopefully avoid being seen. Her phone chimed quietly, and Rebecca checked it. "William is out there already," she said. "You ready?"

I took a deep breath and put a smile on my face that was not entirely forced. I was ready. Ready to put my training to use, ready to fight for something worth fighting for, ready to do my best to help and protect Rebecca whom I had become so close to ever since I've been brought into this life. "Let's do this," I said with fierce determination in both my eyes and voice.

We received a few looks from people that were in the lobby, I assumed because of how Rebecca and I were dressed, but I ignored it and kept onward. My mind was only on what I had to do in the coming hour or so, nothing else mattered. Rebecca and I kept mostly quiet and stayed in the shadows on our walk to the church. A few people were walking up and down the streets, but it was much less than I had seen on other nights and I attributed that to the fact that it was the middle of the week.

A few people were hanging out around the huge Andrew Jackson statue a short way off of the entrance to the cathedral, but I was honestly not that worried about them. If a fight took place inside the church, it was unlikely that any voices would carry that far. If one took place outside, well that is something that I would worry about if it happened. I sensed a presence ahead of me and in the distance, and when I looked, I saw William step out of the shadows. He was dressed much the same as Rebecca and I, except his weapons were in hand already.

I walked alongside Rebecca and into the shadows of the cathedral. Without a word I opened up the small sling bag that I carried and strapped my blade to my wrist, once again hoping that I would have no need for it. I also withdrew the baton and attached it to my belt loop. I felt more comfortable with the baton as it was less deadly, but also remembered that these people would be attempting to take my life from me.

"Ready your nerves, Madison," William said. "And if it comes down to it, do not hesitate to take their lives, it will not be an easy thing if you have to do it, but remember, they will not hesitate for a single second to take yours."

I extended and retracted my blade quickly by way of response and William nodded. "I got it," I said quietly, watching as Rebecca's eyes moved rapidly scanning the exterior of the building.

"Now," he went on, speaking just loud enough for Rebecca and I to hear him, "as I was saying earlier, the way I want to go about this is as risky as possible, but I think it will work. I will go in, directly through the front. Madison, the moment you hear shit go down I want you in there as quickly as humanly possible. Rebecca, you know what to do. Scale the side and use the window. I am hoping that the Templars will be distracted enough by us for you to get in and get to the tombs unnoticed."

"Understood," Rebecca said, and I noticed something. For one of the first times since I met her, Rebecca's usual cheery attitude seemed to have vanished. She had stopped scanning the cathedral and locked her eyes on mine. "Good luck, Madison," she said giving me a tight hug. "I know you've got this."

William's eyes pierced into her own. "She'll be fine," he said. "I won't let anything happen to her. You just focus on what you need to do. Get that staff away from those fucking Templars and back into our hands."

With that said, William made his way towards the front of the church while Rebecca retreated deeper into the shadows along the side. I followed William and with a quick glance at the statue a little way off I saw that a couple of the people seemed to have left. Only a couple remained, and I thought that a good sign. Clouds had moved in, covering the moon and thus making it a little bit darker. As William pushed on the door it opened silently and I crouched down low to the ground as light from the inside spilled out. The couple of people off in the distance paid no mind to it. William walked inside and I waited in silence for my sign.

I didn't have to wait long; within moments of William entering the cathedral I heard someone shout about an Assassin. That was my que. I unclasped my baton from my belt loop and pressed the small button on the handle causing it to extend. If I had not been holding tight onto it, it was likely that the baton would have shot right out of my hand. I took a deep breath and ran in, ready for whatever was to come.

I saw six people inside. Five people who were dressed the same as the Templars I saw yesterday and William who was already fighting for his life. Baton in one hand and his blade extended on his wrist, he had three of the Templars on him and was giving them every bit that he had. I gripped my baton tightly and charged at one of the two Templars who were not currently fighting William. With a fierce yell I swung my baton as hard as I could at the head of one of the Templars. The man couldn't get his guard up in time and my weapon connected solidly. I had been in my fair share of scraps before, but this was the hardest I have ever swung at someone and the only time I had ever used a weapon on someone. The man stumbled back before collapsing to the floor with a loud yell. Blood poured from his head staining the polished floor

The second Templar who had not been fighting before my entrance turned and cursed at me. "Fucking Assassin!" he snarled as not only he ran at me, but one of the three that had been engaging William broke off to run at me.

The one who cursed at me raised his own baton and I saw just how sharp looking the end was. He wouldn't have to stab me with it to do serious damage, even a glancing blow from the tip of it would be able to gash me open fairly deeply. I saw the blow coming though, and easily managed to get my own weapon up to parry it. As the Templar's baton crashed down onto my own, I saw the second man swing at me from the side and managed to twist around, making him miss as I delivered a kick to his rib cage. It wasn't a strong kick, but it did manage to make the man look at me in shock. It would seem that they were not expecting me to be an accomplished fighter. I must admit that I was shocked myself as the first Templar swung at me once more and I sidestepped the blow and landed one of my own, not to his head, but to the side of his neck. I was suddenly aware of how naturally this felt to me. It was as if I could anticipate where I was about to be attacked from and position myself accordingly with ease.

The tide of a battle can turn in an instant though, and I knew that. I heard a strangled cry come from my left and when I looked over, I saw William pulling a now very bloody blade from one of his attackers' neck. It was probably the most shocking thing I have ever seen. The man collapsed to the ground and did not move. He was very clearly dead. Time seemed to slow down momentarily and my mind, for the first time since the fight started, was distracted. In that very moment, the moment where my mind was not on the fight, for the split second that my eyes were on the dead Templar, the two that I had been fighting pressed their advantage.

White lights popped in front of my eyes as a crushing blow landed on the back of my head and I fell to my knees gasping. It was not enough to knock me out, but it did hurt like hell. William saw me fall and immediately broke off from the one remaining Templar that was still on him and closed the distance on the one that had hit me. Without of word he grabbed the man and flung him against a wooden pew, getting him away from me.

I heard footsteps approaching me from behind and knew that it was another Templar. There were still three left after the one William had killed and the one that I knocked out. I spun around, still on my knees, blindly swinging my baton as hard as I could once more. The blow connected and I felt a small smile pull at the corner of my mouth when I realized that I had landed a direct hit clean on the man's groin. He screamed in agony and as he started to collapse, I swung my leg up in a powerful kick. The heel of my boot landed square on his mouth. Blood spurted out as I felt his teeth break under the power of my kick and just like that, I had incapacitated a second Templar. The pain in my head was starting to fade and I jumped up and rubbed the spot that I had been hit. A lump was already starting to form, but my hand came away clean, telling me that my head had not been split open. William was still fighting the last two of the Templars, and I was about to charge over and take one of them off his hands when I heard something that put all thoughts of the fight out of my head.

A loud scream echoed throughout the cathedral. It came from below and I knew the voice. It was Rebecca. She must have managed to make her way in through a window and both William and I being so focused on fighting had not even seen her. The sound of her yell filled me with dread as I looked over and saw a wooden door open in the floor behind the alter. I was right about it after all. I didn't even notice that William hand flung one of the two remaining Templars that were still standing past and to the ground. My mind was only on Rebecca and what I could do to help her.

"Go!" William shouted at me. "Leave these guys to me!"

I took one look at him and nodded before running down the isle of the cathedral and vaulting over the alter. I landed just in front of the opening in the floor and looked down into the hole. Light flickered deep down below and I thought that it looked like torch light instead of light bulbs. With one more deep breath I lowered myself onto the wooden ladder that would take me down below, not knowing what would be waiting for me.

Chapter Album:

Van Halen: Best of Volume 1

Witchy's Note:

I got through this chapter a little quicker than I thought I would. Still it took me longer than I would have liked. Things have been slightly hectic for me at work and I have had very little time to actually work on this at work. I swear it is almost like they expect me to actually do what they pay me to do instead of writing. But here we are. This tale is coming to an end. I have one more chapter planned and then an epilogue. I'll be starting on the last chapter tonight. Thank you all who are reading, and I hope that you are enjoying the exploits of Madison. One last thing: RIP Eddie Van Halen. A true legend of rock gone too soon.


	8. The Staff

Chapter 8: The Staff

My palms began to sweat as I slowly descended the ladder. I heard a voice from below, but it was not Rebecca's and that worried me. I could still hear her scream in my head. The idea that something could have happened to her filled me with dread. I also worried about William, whom I had left alone above to finish the fight. And then I still had the vision of the Templar's dying scream. It was hard to believe that I had witnessed a man being killed. All of these thoughts filled my brain and clouded my thoughts. I knew that I had to push them all out. I needed to have a clear mind for whatever would be waiting for me at the bottom of this ladder. Whatever was going to happen, I felt that this would be the end of it.

The voice became clearer the lower I got down the ladder. I recognized it as the voice of Lewis, the Templar who had at one point welcomed me into this church, the man who had ordered his men to kill me. The lower I got the brighter the light below me shone. The continuous flicker was casting shadows along the walls surrounding me.

After another ten feet or so of descending the ladder, I noticed that the area was beginning to widen. I saw wooden beams stretching across what looked to be a concrete ceiling. The ladder would take me all the way down to the floor, but that was not where I wanted to go. The moment I saw the wooden beams a plan formed in my head. They were about 15 feet above the floor and looked more than able to handle my weight. I only hoped that I would not be heard. Leaping off of the ladder and falling only a couple of feet, I landed on the beam farthest from the center of the room. The room which now came fully into view for me was indeed a crypt.

As I had suspected, flickering torches did indeed line all of the walls. Tombs lined the walls which were intricately engraved with crosses that I at once recognized as the symbol of the Knights Templar. I could only assume that they held the remains of powerful Templar's of ages past. It was what I saw in the center of the crypt that filled me with fear though. Lewis was standing in the very center of the room, his back to me. A dazzling gold staff was gripped tightly in his left hand. I knew at once that this was an item of immense power. Power beyond anything I could have ever imagined. I knew this, because in front of Lewis, a frightened look on her face with a bit of blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth, was Rebecca. What frightened me was the fact that Rebecca was not on the ground. She hovered a few feet off of the ground, arms spread wide, a furious look frozen on her face. It looked like she was trying to move, but her body seemed to be paralyzed.

I couldn't be sure whether Rebecca had noticed me above yet or if she could even move her eyes at all for that matter. There was another beam about a foot in front of me and another in front of that one. They lined the entire ceiling from one end to the other. I considered myself lucky that the beams were so close together. It meant that I wouldn't need to jump. I could simply step from one to the next, hopefully keeping silent, hopefully keeping my balance.

I stood up as straight as I could manage to without slamming my head on the ceiling and took a careful step ahead to the next beam and stopped. It didn't make any kind of a creaking noise so I took that as a hint that I could safely keep advancing. Slowly and carefully, I continued to step from beam to beam until I was as close to Lewis as I dared get. There was only one beam between him and I; and I crouched down, fully prepared to drop down on top of him and put an end to this. I could see no other way to save Rebecca. I knew in my heart that I would have no choice but to kill him.

I was just about to drop down and end him when Lewis spoke. "Did you really think that I was not aware that there would be three of you?" He asked looking at Rebecca and jabbing her with the staff. "Were you really stupid enough to believe that I would not be fully aware of every single move that you Assassin scum would make? I had eyes on all of you ever since you got here. Sure, the young bitch kind of caught me by surprise, but she was deeply stupid when she came here. A real shitty liar."

I clenched my fists and stood up, once again being careful not to smack my head. Who the fuck did this guy think he was, calling me a bitch like that? Not that it was the worst thing I had ever been called, but something about this Templar prick calling me that pissed me off royally.

"You know," Lewis went on "I don't hear any more commotion coming from up top." He turned around and I instinctively held my breath, hoping he would not look up. "Maybe, my men have killed your other two. One was quite up in age, wasn't he?"

Or maybe one of them is right above you, you fucking arrogant bastard, I thought to myself as he turned back towards Rebecca. I knew I had to strike. I couldn't wait. Lewis could end Rebecca any time he wanted, and I refused to let that happen. It was his life or hers, and I would do what I had to in order to save her. I had promised before we even came to New Orleans that I had her back.

"Free will," Lewis scoffed edging ever closer to Rebecca. "You people fight for free will and peace, but you are all delusional. The only way this world and the human race will ever know piece is through being controlled. And so, I do what I must…for the greater good. I will put an end to every last Assassin I come across." He pulled out a long dagger from the confines of his robes and pointed it at Rebecca's throat. "Starting with you."

My heart started racing as soon as I saw the knife. I would not let this happen. With a flick of my wrist I extended the blade on my wrist and took a single step off of the beam. It felt like I was dropping in slow motion. I knew that as soon as I had taken the step that Lewis was dead, that I was taking his life. I would be a killer, an unapologetic killer in order to save the woman that I had grown to care so deeply for over the past few months.

My blade slid into his throat as easily as a red-hot knife sliding into a stick of butter. I felt something inside of me change as Lewis collapsed with me landing on top of him. The golden staff in his hand clattered to the floor and as it did Rebecca fell to the ground, free of whatever the artifact was doing to her. Lewis coughed lightly as I pulled the blade from his neck and he grasped the wound with his hand to try to slow the bleeding. It would do no good though, he was a dead man. My strike had been true. I knew that within a matter of minutes he would bleed out. I was a killer. I had taken a life.

I stared at my blade, covered in Lewis's blood and then looked into the man's eyes as Rebecca got to her feet and knelt down beside me and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "You…you saved me," she said, drawing my eyes to her own. "He…he knew I was coming. Got the jump on me as soon as I tried to strike. I couldn't do anything."

"I told you," I whispered, still in shock that I had delivered a fatal blow to a man who now lay dying before me. "I've got your back. I'll always have your back."

"How very touching." Lewis's voice was weak and strained and what little strength he had left started to fade. I looked back down into the dying man's eyes and he smiled. "I can see it in your eyes, Assassin. I am your first. Your eyes betray that. I want you to look at me, look into my eyes as I die. I want my face burned into your memory. Never forget…that you…killed me.'

I wanted to look away but found myself incapable of doing so. For a moment I wondered if maybe the staff was in some way controlling me, but I quickly realized that despite how much I had hated this man, despite the fact that he had tried to have me killed and was seconds away from killing Rebecca, I felt that I owed it to him, as his killer, to watch the final lights leave his eyes.

"You're weak, Assassin," Lewis went on, still holding my eyes. If you were like us, you would not be feeling any guilt about killing me. You would have the strength to kill without mercy."

"I could never," I said slowly, making each and every syllable of my word's crystal clear. "I could never be like you."

"Right there," Lewis said, and I thought I could hear a small amount of strength in his voice. "That weakness there will be the end of you one day. It will be the end of your entire little brotherhood."

He smiled and took his hand away from the wound on his neck and grabbed me by the shirt. In that instant his other hand flew up and I realized what was going on in the millisecond before it did. An intense sharp pain struck my shoulder and ran down my entire left arm. I screamed out in pain at the exact same time that Rebecca yelled.

"Son of a bitch!" I yelled out looking down at the front of my shoulder and the tip of the dagger protruding from it. I reached around and felt the hilt of the weapon by the back of my shoulder. A glance down at Lewis told me that he was dead. The Templar bastard had used his final moment, the last little bit of his strength to stab me.

"No!" Rebecca yelled out looking in horror at the dagger in me. No, no no!" She jumped up and ran towards the ladder, leaving me on all fours panting as warm blood seeped through my shirt. "William! William are you up there?" She shouted up through the passageway.

"Cleaning up the mess up here," came Williams voice from just above the ladder. "You have the staff?"

"Never mind that," Rebecca yelled. "Get down here now! Madison's hurt!"

"How bad?" William asked a moment later and I could hear him coming down the ladder.

"Fucking cockwaffle stabbed me!" I yelled out and I could swear I heard Rebecca chucked ever so slightly at my words. It's not that I never cursed, I was not opposed to dropping some choice words on occasion, but I was guessing she had never heard someone call someone else a "cockwaffle."

"Shit," William said as he and Rebecca ran back over to me as I attempted to push myself into a sitting position but only managed to collapse on top of the now very dead Templar.

I found it hard to feel much guilt about killing him now that he had stabbed me. "Take it easy," William said, kneeling next to me and helping me to sit.

"We can't take her to a hospital," Rebecca said, her voice full of concern. "The wound is too bad, questions would be asked, cops would be called."

"I know," William responded while looking at the dagger still stuck in me. "I have some supplies back at the hotel but getting her back could prove to be complicated. I can carry her up the ladder, but we can't very well walk down the street with a knife stuck in her. That would draw more attention than a hospital."

"I got it," Rebecca said. Use the Templar's robe. "I'll tie it around the wound, but it'll have to be under your shirt Madison. Even at night a white cloth covered in blood will draw a lot of attention.

"Fine," I said. "Do whatever you need to do, just get this god damn knife out of me."

"Okay," Rebecca said and turned to William. "Use his robes, cut them off around thigh high since he hasn't bled that far down. I need several large strips." She turned back to me and spoke softly, a gentleness in her voice that said she was trying to comfort me. "I'm so sorry," Rebecca went on. "But this is going to be painful, maybe not as bad as actually getting stabbed, but it will hurt."

"Just do it," I said.

Rebecca was not joking. What they did was painful as hell. She had both her and me hold a piece of the shredded robe while William swiftly yanked the dagger out of me. As soon as the knife came out, we had to press the robe pieces to both sides of the wound. If that wasn't bad enough on me, I then had to wriggle halfway out of my shirt which was stuck to me with blood so that Rebecca could tie a large chunk of robe around my wound. I took a glance at the front of my shoulder before it got tied off. It looked nasty, much like the Templar's neck did. It was a good thing that the three of us were fifteen feet or more underground, because if we were not, I am sure that my screams would have carried through the walls of the church itself as I was forced to move my arm. When my shoulder was finally wrapped and my shirt back on, I hopped up on William's back and he awkwardly climbed the ladder back to the church while I hung on for dear life with my one good arm as Rebecca came up just behind us carrying the staff.

William was not kidding about the mess left behind on the floor of the church. Five bodies were piled up near the alter and my stomach wrenched as I saw that they were all dead. I supposed that William thought it too risky to leave any of them alive and I couldn't help but to wonder what he planned to do with the bodies. Blood stained several sections of the floor. It was going to be one hell of a cleanup job that would probably take most of the night.

"Take Madison and the staff back to the hotel," William said firmly. "Go to my room, the first aid supplies are in a cabinet in the bathroom. Get her stitched and cleaned up and then check out. Get back to her house. Our work here is done, and we can't afford to linger."

I looked down at my shirt and was so thankful that it was black. The blood hardly showed on it. Someone would have to really be looking for something out of the ordinary to notice it. It was a struggle for me as Rebecca and I walked out of the church leaving William behind, but I managed to all but block out the pain I was in. Rebecca had managed to find a set of robes to wrap the staff in and she strapped it across her back. I made a quick dash to the side of the church where I retrieved my bag and stashed my blade and baton in it.

It was a quiet walk back to the hotel. Neither Rebecca nor I said much of anything until we walked back inside the hotel and made our way very quickly to the elevator and up to William's room. The medical supplies were just where he said they were. I sat down on the bathroom counter and Rebecca helped to take my shirt off.

Getting stitched up sucked ass. With no numbing agent on hand I was forced to endure the pain of the needle going in and out of me as Rebecca sewed me up. It was nowhere near as bad as actually getting stabbed, but it was still not fun at all. Rebecca kept my mind off of the pain by simply talking to me.

"You did so wonderfully," she said. "I am so fucking proud of you and I know that William is as well. I know that it could not have been easy, doing what you had to do."

"It's kind of scary just how easy it was," I replied as I flinched in pain from the needle. "I didn't enjoy killing him, but I do not regret it at all. You were in danger. He…that man, he was going to kill you and I couldn't let that happen." I flinched again as the needle penetrated my skin once more. "I just can't stand the idea of anything happening to you. You mean so much to me."

I could swear I heard Rebecca's voice break slightly as she responded to me. "Madison," she said, softly pressing her forehead against mine. "I'm touched. I truly am." She wrapped me in a gentile hug, doing her best not to press against my wound.

It only took a few more minutes for Rebecca to finish sewing me up and then it was back to our room where we both packed as quickly as possible. The small clock on the nightstand between the beds told me that it was well past midnight. If we left now it would be after two in the morning by the time I got home. The pain in my shoulder had subsided to nothing more than a dull throb

A few minutes later we were completely packed and down in the lobby. The staff was safely wrapped up and strapped to my back while Rebecca turned in our room keys. We tossed the luggage in the car and stored the staff in the trunk. The Rebecca cranked up the music as loud as she thought she could get away with this late at night and we tore down the road in the direction of the interstate like a bat out of hell, both of us singing along with the music in an attempt to clear our minds of everything that had just happened.

It was after three in the morning by the time we pulled into the driveway of the house and got unloaded. I wasn't sure what William was planning to do with the staff, and neither was Rebecca, so I simply unwrapped it and stored it on top of the fireplace for the time being. Despite how tired both Rebecca and I were, neither of us felt like going to bed, so instead we picked out a series of movies and relaxed on the sofa talking and watching until the sun came up. I couldn't be completely certain, but I thought a couple of times I saw Rebecca just looking at me with a smile planted firmly on her face, but she always seemed to look away blushing slightly the minute that she saw me notice.

William showed up late in the evening. He looked tired and run down, which was to be expected considering everything that had happened. I couldn't help but to wonder if he had slept at all after we obtained the staff. I know that neither Rebecca nor I had. We were both running on copious amounts of caffeine.

He plopped down at the kitchen table and Rebecca poured him a cup of coffee before both her and I sat down with him. "Well done," he said, taking a large pull of the drink. "I mean it. I honestly don't think it could have gone much better."

"You know, aside from me getting stabbed," I said with a small smirk. Getting stabbed had sucked of course, and I knew that it was going to leave me with one gnarly ass scar, but it was a scar that I would wear with pride. A mark of me helping someone that I care about.

"How is the arm?" William asked looking over at my heavily bandaged shoulder.

"Sore and throbbing, but I'll be fine, I think," I replied. "What about the staff though? What should I do with it?"

It was Rebecca that answered me. "William and I actually talked a bit about that before you and I went to New Orleans. He thinks that because both you and I are living here right now, that the staff would be safest here."

"Why here though?" I asked.

"The basement that your parents have is quite secure," William said calmly. "And I plan on adding even more security measures to it as well, plus with two Assassins staying here full time for now, I don't think anyone would try to take it."

I nodded my head. It made sense. "One thing I don't really understand though," I said, motioning with my head to the fireplace where I had the staff sitting. "What exactly is the staff? I know that someone had mentioned it was a Piece of Eden, but what exactly does that mean?"

"It's an artifact," William said simply. "An ancient artifact from an ancient civilization. The first civilization. A civilization more advanced in technology and knowledge than any in this room can even dream of. That staff," he went on "is a great and powerful weapon that, in the wrong hands, can bring about unimaginable destruction and ruin."

"And that is why the Templar's want them?" I asked.

"The Templars," Rebecca said "do not believe in freedom of choice. They believe that the only way that the world can be at peace is through complete and total control by their Order. The Assassin's and Templar's have been at war for as long as anyone can remember."

"We cannot allow them to use these ancient artifacts to control the world populous," William continued, taking over for Rebecca. "So, we fight, and we give everything we have. We've all suffered losses to this never-ending war. Several years ago, I…I lost my son. He gave his life to save this entire world."

William departed very shortly after that conversation. He told me that he had a plane to catch and was headed up north to investigate another possible artifact location. Rebecca and I moved the staff down to the basement and placed it on one of the many racks that had been mounted to the walls.

A few hours later a storm had started to move in, thunder and lightning rattled the house and Rebecca and I decided it would be easier to just stay in that evening instead of going out for food. I cooked a simple dinner and we ate in the living room as we once again started another string of movies. It was a peaceful evening, one of the first times that I truly felt at peace since I had been brought into this crazy life. I knew that my life would never truly be normal again, and I was strangely okay with that. What did I not know was what the future would bring for me, but I was excited to find out.

I glanced at Rebecca out of the corner of my eye and caught her looking at me and smiling once more. Without even thinking about what I was doing, I scooted closer to where she was sitting on the sofa and rested my head on her shoulder. She leaned her head down to rest it on top of mine and my heart started racing. It was an off combination of nervousness and excitement. Our hands were less than an inch apart and it was just like that that Rebecca and I spent the remainder of the evening and late into the night.

Witchy's notes:

I honestly don't have much to say here this time. It is probably the fastest that I have ever pumped out a chapter to this tale. I have one more part coming. A shortish epilogue that I will be working on probably before I even post this final chapter. This story has been quite a journey for me and I am both happy and kind of sad that it has reached its conclusion…but the exploits of our lovely Madison Gratton are not quite over…..An apple may yet be in play.


	9. Epilogue

Epilogue: Six Months Later

I tossed the shopping bags into the trunk of my car and closed it. The sun shone brightly as I looked around the mall parking lot. It was crowded, which did not surprise me as it was a beautiful sunny Saturday. It had been six months since I had done my part in retrieving the Piece of Eden from New Orleans and much had changed. I had learned to actually drive and gotten my license and a car. It had given me a freedom that I never knew I really desired.

I jumped in my car and cranked the engine. Backing out of the spot and pulling onto the main road, I looked at the beach and the gulf. I was not that far from the group home I had spent several years in before. But I tried not to think about those bad times, instead I thought to my house which felt more like home than any place before it. I also thought of how Rebecca would not be there when I got home.

Two months ago, Rebecca had been called away by William. All I knew was that she was in the upper Midwest somewhere, deep undercover in a new Abstergo facility. I missed her a lot. In the four months that we spent together before she got called away, we had grown very close. It had started to feel like we were becoming more than just friends or allies, and it felt good. But that also meant that I was hurt when she had to leave. I, of course, knew it would happen eventually and I knew she would be back, but I just didn't know when. I got a call from her about once a week, but the conversations were always vague as Rebecca didn't want to risk anything being overheard if her phone line ever got tapped.

I had the top down on my car as I cruised down the road, the wind whipping through my hair, and the music cranked up. It had been a while since I treated myself to any kind of shopping other than food and it felt kind of good to just blow some money on new clothes.

I got back to my house about an hour later and tossed the clothes on my bed before flopping down on the sofa to watch television. I did that a lot since Rebecca had to leave, always missing her any time I would put a movie on as late night movies had been our thing. She was supposed to call me later on tonight. It gave me something to look forward to, even though I already knew much of the conversation would be like every other time she called since she left. It would be good just to hear her voice again though.

The house felt empty and I felt lonely. I think that was why I treated myself to the shopping trip, to try to alleviate that feeling and it had worked…for a moment, but now that I was back home that feeling crept back. I guess I was just not good at being alone after having someone here so long.

My phone rang late at night as I knew it would. It was Rebecca and as I knew it would, just talking to her made me feel better, no matter how vague the conversation was. That was just something I was going to have to get used to until she was able to come back. After all, I was an Assassin, and that meant I would be alone sometimes, but it was my life. I was born into this without even knowing it, but I wouldn't change it for anything. I had met wonderful people and risked my life for something worth fighting for. I did not know what the future would hold for me, but I would continue to train and hone my skills so that when I was next called to action, I would be ready for whatever was thrown at me.

Witchy's notes.

Well here it is. The final part of this tale. This was one of the more difficult fics for me to write. Between the pandemic that this whole world is currently dealing with, to me having gone on a many month hiatus from writing this. Even though this did not get the traction that some of my others did, I am still so happy and so thankful to those that did read and enjoy this story. As I said at the end of the last chapter, I feel both happy and sad that this story is over. I feel that after every completed story. Happy that people enjoyed reading it, but saddened that that tale has come to an end…but is it really over? The answer to that is no, it is not. I am not finished with Madison Gratton, not at all. I have plans for a sequel to this story. A sequel that will take us out the gulf coast and to the place that I called home for 30 years, a place that I dearly miss. I cannot give a timeline on when I will start writing it, as I am still in the beginning stages of outlining it, but I cannot wait to get started. Until that time comes, I want to thank every single person who read this tale. You all mean the world to me and I love all of you.


End file.
